THE OF THE | MODIBRN ORCHESTRA | A eae A Great PonTLANo StReer,DEDICATED TO SIR ALEXANDER C. MACKENZIE, Mus. D., LL. D., D.C.L. Principal of the Royal Academy of Music.Preface. Within the last fifty years the mechanism of most instruments has been materially improved, and, concurrently, the orchestral palette has been en- riched with a variety of tone-color formerly unknown. Hence the necessi- ty for a new manual setting forth the present state of orchestral instru- ments: their compass and capabilities. Characteristic features of the present book are the Complete Lists of Shakes and Tremolos for the Woodwind, and of Double, Triple, and Quadruple Stops for the Strings. It has always seemed to us that these matters are dealt with in somewhat too summary a manner in most works on Instrumentation, We venture to think the lists contained in this manual will fully meet the requirements of the student, and may even oc- casionally be of service to the accomplished composer. To the Organ a special section has been devoted, in which, not to men- tion a few hints that may prove useful to organ-builders, we have en- deavored to give such information as will be of assistance to musicians wishing to write for the Organ and Orchestra combined. CH>-M. WIDOR.VII Contents. races, PAOES. CHAPTER I. THE WOODWIND The NATURAL TRUMPET. . . . 66 The FLUTE... 2... 00. “ The VALVE-TRUMPET . . . . . 67 List of Shakes and Tremolos . . . 45 List of Shakes. 500. eT Transposing Flutes... 0... 48 Muted Trumpets. 6 0 0. 1 The PICCOLO... 2. fe 18 The BASS TRUMPET... ... * The OBOE... 20 The CORNET A PISTONS. . . . 75 List of Shakes and Tremolos . . . 23 The TROMBONES. ...... . 78 The OBOE D'AMORE....... 26 The TENOR TROMBONE... . . 78 The COR ANGLAIS... 1... 26 The BASS TROMBONE... . . 87 The BARYTONE OBOE... . . . 27 The CONTRABASS TROMBONE . 90 The CLARINET. . 1... . 20 The SAXHORNS.. 2. 2... . Of List of Shakes and Tremolos. . . . 34 The SOPRANINO SAXHORN . . . 92 The ALTO CLARINET... . . . 37 The SOPRANO SAXHORN . . . . 92 The SMALL CLARINET... .. a7] The ALTO SAXHORN. . . . . . 98 The BASS CLARINET... . . . 37 The BARYTONE SAXHORN. . . . 98 The BASS-TUBA. ....... % Ce vo He The BOMBARDON. .... . . . 96 Sissi Shchet The CONTRABASS-TUBA . . . . 96 The BASSON-QUINTE .:.... a7 The DOUBLE-BASSOON. . . . . . 47 || CHAPTER I, THE PERCUSSION INSTRU- The SARRUSOPHON MENTS Shakes so] ‘The KETTLE-DRUMS. . . . . . 98 The SIDE DRUM. . = 106 CHAPTER I, THE BRASS INSTRUMENTS Muffled Drums . Le t08 The Theory of their Tone-produc- The TENOR DRUM... . . . . 108 ction. oe +... 54] The TAMBOURINE... .. . . 109 The NATURAL HORN... ... ss] The TABOR.. 2... 109 The VALVE-HORN........ 57] The TRIANGLE... . ses to Muted and Overblown Notes... . 68 CASTANETS..... 2... 42 Shakes .. 61] The CYMBALS... ..... . 148 The Horn in the Orchestra... .. 63] ANCIENT CYMBALS... . . . 117 JW. 14267,Vill Pars. PAGES, The BASS DRUM... .. . . - 417 The VIOLONCELLO.. .....~ 175, The GONG... . +. + AR Thumb Positions... oe 176 The GLOCKENSPIEL.. . . . . . 122 Pissicato. . . . fee aT The CELESTA.. ... . . . . . 428 Double Stops. 0 oo ee 478 The XYLGPHONE. ... . 2 $88 Triple Stops. oe ee AD BELLS........-. eer Quadruple Stops... ow 180 Bowings . 6... eee we AE CHAPTER IV. Harmonics. © 6 6 6 eee eee 184 The SAXOPHONES. . . . . ss AR5 The Violoncello in the Orchestra . . 182 The SOPRANO SAXOPHONE . . . 126 ‘The DOUBLE-BASS . . .. . . . 484 The ALTO SAXOPHONE. . . . . 126 Tremolos. os ee ee ee 186 The TENOR SAXOPHONE . . . 126 Pissicato. 5... cee 187 ‘The BARYTONE SAXOPHONE . . 127 Double Stops. 0. es 487 The HARP... 2... eH Harmonics, © oo oe ee AMS Glissandos . 2... eo ABD Bowings ss... eT) Harmonics... ne ABR Runs. ee ee 189, The ORGAN... e189 The MUTE... 1... 2. . 190 The BRIDGE... .. . 2 2190 CHAPTER V THE STRINGS The BACK OF THE BOW. . . . .101 The VIOLIN. . 2... fo 48 List of Fronch, Italian,and German Double Stops oo oe ee 150 expressions used in connection with Triple and Quadruple Stops . . . 454 the Strings. 2 2... 2... 2 198 Harmonics... oe 2 158 Compass of the various instruments. 192 Bowings 0... 0. +s + S68 Shakes possible on Woodwind In- Pissicalo. 0 103 cstruments . 6... ee 194 The VIOLA... 1... + + + $66 Harmonies possible on 1 Stringed In. Double Stops... 6. ss. 167 sstruments 6... = 195 Triple and Quadruple Stops. . . . 168 Use of Double Stops in the Orchestra . 196 Harmonics... oe oe 174 List of Modern Composers. . . . . 196 Bowings. . 1... eo AM CONCLUSION. .... eee 197 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV. Further remarks concerning the employment of homophonic strings on the Harp... . 199 Note on the origin of the Swell, Pedal-board, t, Manuals and Stops of the Organ. 2... 1 1 ee. 200 4. W. 44267,Ix Order of Chapters In the present work, the order in which the instruments are usually ar- ranged in orchestral scores has been followed, beginning with the most acute-toned: FLUTES, (Piccolo) OBOES, (Cor Anglais) (CHAPTER I) \CLARINETS, (Bass Clarinet) BASSOONS, —_(Double-Bassoon) SARRUSOPHONE, Then, after a: short Theory of the tone-production of Brass Instruments, the following are dealt with: HORNs, TRUMPETS, (Cornets & Pistons) TROMBONES, TUBAS, (Saxhorns) (CHAPTER 11) Next come (CHAPTER III) The PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS, Then, so to speak, in parentheses, The SAXOPHONES, (CHAPTER IV) }The HARP, The ORGAN, And lastly, (CHAPTER V) The STRINGS. JW, 14267.Memento. The velocity of sound is about 1100 f! per second. ‘The deepest tone we are able to perceive is produced by a 64 ft pipe (Organs of St Louis, U.S.A. and Sydney, Australia, in which the low C=8 vibrations per second). ‘A. 64 ft pipe corresponds to 8 vibrations per second. - = S 16 - -6 = S Be = Ans S = 64 - Aa = S 129 = ara) = 5 5s = —1 = S 57 = the Double-bass ought to be able to produce (and which can be obtained on some recently constructed instruments) is equivalent to a 16 ft pipe. Double C on the Violoncello... . . . » is equivalent to an 8 ft pipe Tenor C on the Viola . . . . . is equivalent to a 4 ft pipe. (Standard French Pitch * [Diapason Normal] = 435 vibrations). The most acute tones perceptible to the ear are produced by 15,000, 20,000, 30,000 vibrations, and even more. Timbre (Quality or Color of Tone—Klangfarbe) depends on the manner in which the column of air is set in motion, rather than on the material of which the instrument is made, In the case of the brass instruments, the mouthpiece, to a great extent,deter~ mines the mode in whieh the air is set in motion. Compare the little cup which forms the mouthpiece of the Trumpet with that of the Horn; these two cups are,in respect of depth, as 1:2, and the shallower the cup of the Trumpet, the shriller the tone, as may be seen by the Cavalry Trumpet; the deeper the cup of the Horn, the mellower its timbre. It is only possible to sound the various harmonies—high and low—on brass instru- ments, provided there is a suitable ratio between the diameter and the length of the tube. If the diameter’ is too small—the tube too narrow— it is impossibe’ to obtain the fundamental tone, The subdivision of the column of air contained in a pipe into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, etc... (harmonies), corresponds to the subdivision of a string into the same aliquot parts. JW. 44267,Mi Chapter I. i The Woodwind. THE FLUTES (Ital, Flauto, Ger. Flite. Fr, Flite) 1=The three-octave chromatic scale of the Flute, embracing 37 degrees, extends snipe Some players are able to sound a few still higher notes, even reaching Eb; this, however is quite ex- ceptional, and music should be written not for a few out of the way zirtuosi, but for the ordinary run of performers, The scale of the Flute is fairly even; the first 35 notes can be attacked and sustained forte or piano at will, without requiring the player to take any special care: The 36th and 37th degrees can only be produced with some difficulty, and are inevitably harsh: 8 Impossible prano == i637 Ist Remark: In case of need, the 36th degree can be played piano by some performers, but this too is exceptional. As for the 374 dexrec, it is per excellent forte. y impossible to obtain it piano, 2nd Remark: All intervals can be played Jegafo on the Flute, save iwor Dangerous; piano e legato impossible. The E is harsh 2-—By saying that this scale is fairly even, | mean that the composer may consider each of its degrees as being sufficiently in tune with the others, and need not trouble to think about the defects of a few of the notes. Tithe TT — 3: These defective notes are eight in number: & The three C's (NOS 2,6,8) are somewhat too sharp, Eb (N91), on the other hand, rather flat. Db (N93) requires special care in emission, and NOS 4,5,7 are difficult to attack. However, these defects hardly concern anyone but the performer, whose talent to a great ex- tent corrects them. 4—Although the Flute excels in the execution of florid passages, and its favorite keys are ently those whose signatures contain few sharps or flats #, yet when called upon to *The Boehm Flute with cylindrical bore, adopted nowadays by most performers, is alone referred to here. “avold however, the fonts DBR azote of sapldarpnaeis, the folowing intervals Deng diffe, _ be Po especially descending: 3% eee es] Copyright 1906 iy Joseph Williams, Ltd. 4, 14267.ed THE FLUTE. breathe forth a sweet, loving melody, no key suits it better than D>. Of this several charming mod- ern compositions afford sufficient proof. Ab is likewise an excellent key, as may be seen by the following example, which also illustrates another point calling for comment. We here see an Andante finishing on a C pianissimo, so sweet and pure that it would seem to be one of the best notes of the Flute, despite the remark made above ($3): ———_ = — PP \Widor, Conte d4vril) Ty Hird permission of Heupel et 61, Baears-Propidiates) The reason is that this final C is not obtained in the usual manner. The performer in this case makes use of the F fingering (inferior twelfth), the pressure of the lips producing the third upper partial, like the finger on a violin-string. 5=— The only harmonics employed are the following: 29 43 or the fundamentals being the first 14 degrees of the scale: It is impossible to obtain any higher notes. 6—As Gevaert very judiciously remarks in his Treatise on Instrumentation: “When a Flute doubles a melody assigned to a Soprano, or to a wind instrument of like pitch, its natural position is an octave above the voice!” When an organist wishes to brighten the tone of a group of 8ft. stops, he adds a 4ft. fute-stop, which merely strengthens the harmonics of the ft. stops, without at all creating the impression of a transposition in the octave. Likewise, the office of the Flute in the orchestra frequently consists in reinforcing the first har- monic of the Oboe or the Clarinet. If, in a group of wind instruments, the Flutes doubling the up- per parts in the octave be suddenly suppressed, everything will immediately become dull and gloomy desperately poor and weak; yet on reading the score, the Flutes would seem to be perfectly needless luxury, mere filling-up. Articulation. 7—"Tonguing” is to wind instruments what bowing is to stringed instruments, Flute-players make use of three kinds of tonguing, which they call single, double, and triple articulation. Single-articulation is obtained by pronouncing the consonant ¢ (as in “tut!”), It is with this species of tonguing that the maximum strength of tone and greatest intensity of oolor are ob- tained; it corresponds to detached bowing on the Vi Andantino, Single- articulation: JW, 44267.THE FLUTE. 18 However, great speed cannot be attained in this manner. In florid passages the performer has to make use of other, so to speak, mechanical means, allowing of neither the same intensity of tone, nor liberty of expression. In such cases he resorts to double-tonguing, alternately articulating the consonants ¢ and k, or to triple-tonguing, which involves the use of the three letlers ¢ & f, as in fut), clut), tut), i. e. ¢ and & are pronounced according to the phonetic system. 8—As an instance of double-tonguing,|et us take the Scherzo of Mendelssohn's Midsum- mer Night's Dream; Single-articulation would not, considering the rate of movement, allow of producing the lower notes; so they are played as follows: Virace. Double-tonguing: thtkt k theo. 2 . 2 2 e The same remark applies to the solo in Namouna (Lalo): Double-tonguing: thik th tke. 72 7 (anette, Eaiteur-Propriétire.) Remark: Flute-players look upon both these examples with great apprehension, staccato passages being difficult to execute in the low register, but as they are possible and their effect delightful, what does it matter? Double-tonguing: also allows of easy and rapid iteration: Presto... aa Pett tee, Phen AA “SSeS (By bled permission of A. Derand ot Mis, eéteurs-Propiéates. Saint 9—When ternary groups are in question, triple-tonguing is adopted, being nearly as rapid as double-tonguing, but with this kind of articulation there is always a slight risk of inequality of tone, on account of the natural tendency to accent the last of the three con- ‘sonants. Passages such as the following are quite easy, owing to the uniformity of the figure and the absence of any kind of melodic feeling; they are played quite mechanically: Vivo. teitktthkithtee. 2 2 - - J.W, 44267,4 THE FLUTE. But here is a much more difficult figure, the execution of which calls for the utmost care on the part of the performer: Moderato. ; £ get a SS = . (Gounod, Ballet in Faust) {(Choudens, Editeur-Proprictatre). Speed of Articulation. 10— With single-articulation the maximum speed attainable in the low register may be stated as = 112, and even then the passage must not be too fong, on account of the fatigue experienced by the player, and the consequent heaviness of emissio Allegro. (4 = 112) In the high register, the speed of articulation may, of course, increase; however, B> in al- tissimo can hardly be articulated in quicker tempo than #=120: a Singie-articutation: eeoketebat SESE E EEE SESE Double-tonguing allows of easily attaining ¢=144, at the expense, it must be confessed, of intensity and clearness: Allegro. Single- articulation: rite pts With double-tonguing 60 could easily be reached. {1—In the medium register, thanks to double-tonguing, Flutes can manage to compete with Strings in point of speed, being able to produce a true tremolo, as may be seen by Rimsky~Korsakow's Grande Paque Russe: (d = 138) Piccolo. mf 2 Flutes. a ~ A violinist’s wrist could not act more swiftly, or produce a closer tremolo. JW, 44267,THE FLUTE. % Length of Breath. 42— The mouthpiece of the Flute making greater demands on the performer's breath than that of the Clarinet or the Oboe, the composer must beware of requiring tones to be sustained beyond certain limits, in slow tempo. Easy breathing has not always been carefully attended to by composers, even in some cele- brated works, e.g. the Trio of the “Young Ishmaelites” in Berliox's Enfance du Christ, where the Andante requires such long wind that it is the terror of performers. Shakes. 13—— All shakes are good from the lowest D to E zn alt. EXCELL AlPBiajor and minor very good. Z impossible. impossible. * N.B. This shake is a very awkward one; if Wagner did not scruple to use it in the ‘Ride of the Valkyries (page 284), it was because he had it doubled by the Piccolo, Complete List of Shakes and Tremolos. (The cros: means: bad, the double cross: impossible) eauite in tan but possible, not quite in tung, but possible. heavy. possible. a us possible. heavy. juite in L_—very good. —J heavy. june. good. .+—— heavy. 3 = he SF god. Bier Lx Food. diffieutt. at. ESTs Oe = good possible. ___not so easy. +4 heavy. possible. heavy. possible. very heavy. JW, 14267,16 THE FLUTE. Food. —_4 not in tune. possible. heavy. t——good._1 difficult. All others difficult. 1. good. not in tune. possible. difficult. possible. a a A 5 SS 255 = t ‘good. " difficult. 4 bad. + Others difficult, SSS aie rood, ha, (#) This shake, Others difficult. Ca po eet impersible, («) Ee SaaS ‘good. thanks to the new key. 4 Se == Others impossible. god, 5 heavy. Others very heavy. Others very heavy. Others very heavy. good. Others difficuit. UL good. 1 os =~ eR Others bad. good. ___1 bad tone. possibte. = oe ea Others difficult. good. __s not quite in tune. oe € _ = Others impossible. 1 good. JW, 14267,THE FLUTE. 17 a EF bo Ye Others impossible. bad. ite good, th Oe oe CP possible. Others impossible. L-good. ae good. Te oe Se ihe Others impossible. ged. 6 Others impossible. food. = 4 heavy, difficult, possible. — Others impossible. 1 good.1 good. N.B. In the March of the Corporations (Meis- tersinger, p. 460) Wagner has written this tremolo, not much noticed in the orchestral en- semble. The 1% Flute makes use of its upper partials and not of the ordinary ings as everything gravitating around E is difficult, the 2% Flute does the best it can. €e ze FES] others impossibte eae = Geel Others impossibte. Others impossible. good: a easy. with, cross Tingering. Others impossible. Others impossible. mat not flat). Others impossible. ood, G rather possible. s fiat Others impossible. ‘good very difficult. — eS pee xh |) (#) ‘This is the shake soothers inthe ie, Wagner wrote in the impossible. impossible. i itt e ood. difficult, heavy. Ride of the Valkyries. ‘good. very difficult. qe Others imposibt. = onibie rather flat. Pe NB, All this section has been verified by MF Barrére, Solo flute-player of the Concerts Colonne. JW, 14267, Others impossible. — es18 THE FLUTE. {S—-AUTHORS AND WoRKS 70 BE sTUDIED: Bach (Sonatas), Handel (Sonatas, Trios), Mozart, Schubert, even Kuhlau, and a whole modern repertory: Reinecke’s Sonata, Langer's Concerto, Andersex's Concertos and Fantasias, Peter Benoit’s Symphonic Poem, Saint-Saéns's Romance, Fauré's Fantasia, Godard’s and Widor's Suites, Pieces by Pratten, Briccialdi, Clarke, etc. Transposing Flutes. 16—Flutes are made in several keys. At the Paris Exhibition (1900) was to be seen a Bass Flute, tuned an octave below the standard instrument, but, unfortunately, it was almost impossible for the lips to bring out the lower notes. There are also Flutes tuned in G, A, and B> (below the normal pitch); the first of the three (in G) is excellent, and likely to figure in the orchestras of the future. ‘Among Flutes tuned above the normal pitch, the only one we now have left is the Flute in Eb, still in use, it is hard to see why, in military bands. In the time of Mozart the Flute in F was still used: for this instrument he wrote the Entfizhrung aus dem Serail, played nowadays on the Piccolo. Remark: The Flute is so weak-toned in its medium register, as compared with other wind in- steuments, that,when used in combination with them, it only begins to tell from G or A aft. upwards. Written lower, it cannot be heard, and what cannot be heard is harmful rather than otherwise. The only question we should venture to ask Weber would be about his Second Flutes, often an octave below his First Flutes, and consequently not sonorous, whereas the other instruments are always so admirably treated in his incomparable orchestra: Presto con fuoco. fermy Flutes. -~, lal c A | Strings. Safes : $8 reer rover ot veer a - Tt Pr: (Oberon, Rezia’s Air.) Allegro aaa Ghost and again: Flutes. Clarinets, Bassoons, Horns, Strings. (Oberon) | could give numberless instances; at every step we are filled with the same question ing wonder, JW, 14267,19 THE PICCOLO. (Ital., Flauto piccolo, Ger., Kleine Flaite. ¥r., Petite Flitte) 1— The Piccolo is written like the Flute, but sounds an octave higher. Note, however, that it has neither the lowest C nor the highest By of the Flute. Compass; from == « = Remark: BY is impossible for most performers, but in case of need the C above may be written, being easier to produce: possible. possible sf = (Sounding an octave higher) (Sounding an octave higher.) 2 The defect of the Piccolo is that it is not quite in tune. 1 remember a short - lived opera in which the composer had given it an important and ultra-sentimental part to play. This Piccolo with its swooning tones, having a tendency to flatness, evoked the idea of some unfortunate wretch beginning to feel sea-sick. 3= It is a mistake to write a melodic part for the Piccolo, or even to use it as a first Flute, as a soprano to the other two Flutes, unless its part is, so to speak, mechanical, as in the example already quoted (V.P.14) from the Pague Russe. Berlioz always employed the Piccolo most effectively. See the Damnation de Faust, where it usually has sfaccato passages or rapid runs to play: Valse des Sylphes, Evo. cation, Course & LAbime. 4-— All the remarks made in the preceding section, concerning the fingering and articulation of the Flute, apply equally to the Piccolo. All that was said about shakes and tremolos holds good also in the case of the Piccolo, with two exceptions, however. The two highest shakes on the Flute, one very difficult, the other only just possible, 6 Flute “very difficult. possitle Jf are absolutely impracticable on the Piccolo, If the first of these two shakes were written, it would be played in the tower octave — such is the practice of orchestral performers when a composer has been too daring; as for the second shake, the By not existing, there is less risk of its being written. 5— The Piccolo is usually made of wood; the modern Flute, on the other hand, of metal; most virtuosi having come to the conclusion that metal is more practical, less sensitive to changes of temperature, more sonorous, better adapted for producing contrasts of tone-colon, besides being truer of intonation. A skilful performer on the metal Flute preserves all the best characteristics of the Flutes of yore, at the same time imparting to the instrument a richness of tone formerly unknown. In some parts of Europe wooden Flutes have already been discarded, In a few years, 1 suppose, a wooden Flute will be a great rarity. Authors to be consulted: Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Rimsky-Korsakow, etc, in their scores. No special works have been written for the Piccolo. IW. 4267,20 THE OBOE. (Ital, Oboe. Ger., Oboe. Fr, Hautbois.) 1.— In the time of Bach the scale of the Oboe extended from The Oboe used by the symphonists of last century, the one still to be found In most Ger- man, Russian, Italian, Dutch, and other orchestras—the Oboe of Beethoven, Weber, Schu- mann, and Wagner— has the following compa (Sometimes Bb was written for the Oboe, and, in Siegfried, Wagner quite exceptionally re- quires G in altissimo). This instrument is not perfect; some shakes are difficult, others impossible: _ “zy be Dp vey ditew: 7 Impossible: 2.— The compass of the modern French Oboe is from comprising 34 notes of tolerably homogeneous timbre, the lower ones being admirably in- tense, the whole of the medium register capable of expressing the human feelings in all their varying shades_ from joy to sorrow, from tragedy to idyll_the two highest degrees a- lone becoming thin and losing something of their timbre: — = Toren ghost Sat Median! eo ~ , f # £ Registers of the Oboe: All the degrees (save two: C# and D in ait) are well in tune, flexible, clear, and as easy to attack as to sustain, either piano or forte. Remark: The two notes referred to above (C¥ and D) are not inferior to the others in Point of quality, but they are difficult to attack suddenly, as, for instance, in these two real- ly very difficult tremolos: 7 (to be JW, 14267.THE OBOE. a Articulation. 3.— The Oboe differs from the Flute in not being capable of any great execution; it is a melodic instrument, the reed being slower of speech than the mouthpiece of the Flute. V. in the “Tristesse de Roméo” the very characteristic, pathetic wail, which, slow- ly rising, reaches its maximum intensity on the vibrating sonorous E in alt: Larghetto espressiro. Berlioz, Romeo et Juliette, p.20) 4.— The Oboe exclusively employs single-articulation, the letter ¢ (as in “tut") being made use of. Dowble-tonguing is impossible for the Oboe; likewise ¢riple- tonguing, and consequently any rapid iteration of the same note is beyond its power, 5.— It ‘s advisable not to require the Oboe to articulate in quicker tempo than J- 120, in whichever register it may be playing: (d = 120) beeeddoed We now give a few examples from W. Ferling’s Etudes, with metronomic rates fixed by (d= 80) (¢ = 108) oy ere te rr a (By kind pet jeurs-Propristaires.) And here follow three examples of speeds exceeding possible, thanks to their alternately Legato and staccato character, the difficulties of one bar being com- pensated for by the easy nature of the following bar: JW. 14267.22 THE OBOE. jfi ti fttt (very difficult.) The last bar, with its wide skips, is extremely difficult to play. Slurred Notes. 6— Ascending intervals are, generally speaking, more easily slurred than descending ones, the lips being more easily contracted than distended. All octave skips can thus be slurred, from middle C to E, a tenth above, Vivo. pce Cie (t fin (2 ele f# a The same slurs would be much more awkard descending, as in the following passage, which is dangerous beyond 120: Or this one, impossible beyond 112: aaa (very difficult) On the other hand, here is a perfectly practicable passage, with a very expressive con- cluding cadence, Despite the quick rate of movement, the difficulty of execution is here not very great, because this cadence allows the lips time to prepare for the wide skip:THE OBOE. a8 Length of Breath. 7— Superior in intensity and timbre to all the other woodwind instruments, possessed of such carrying-power that it formerly constituted the main element in military bands, while if we once fix our attention on it in a modern orchestra we can finally hear nothing else, un- rivalled as regards the ease with which it can swell and diminish its tone, the Oboe more- over excels all it congeners in sustaining-power. Despite the strength of its vibrations, it comsumes far less wind than the Flute, for example. If a competition were started between ohoists and flautists, these latter players would soon be compelled to acknowledge them- selves defeated, their wind-supply being exhausted long before that of their rivals. There are few examples more convincing, in this connection, than the Largo of Han- del’s Second Concerto, and the Prelude to the 3° act of Tannhduser, so difficult of per- formance, on account of the length of the phrase and the impossibility of taking breath. The Oboe alone, among the woodwind instruments, is equal to the task. Shakes and Tremolos. — Nowadays all major and minor shakes can be executed on the French Oboe, from: — == cj Every modern French Oboe allows of finishing off a shake on the lowest Bh, or on GC (a semitone above) with a turn, but this was formerly impossible S : oa Pepe +? = aes se Daan + All tremolos possible up to the octave. EPS ABE cic. ai toemolos posite ap tothe octave, oe BASSE cle. an omen poste pte the ote J. W. 14267,A THE OBOE. GES AEE cc. eessan possible opto the eters, exe: = —— diffeult. (8S = ct. AM tremolo possible up to the octave. oS etc... All tremolos possible up to the octave. So ete. All tremolos possible up to the octave. All tzemolos possible except: ==: 3 up to the octave, (x) Nowadays an excellent shake. isky. possible in moderate tempo. te. moloy possible up to the octave. _-(¥) Nowadays : All tremolo pos ae octave. an excellent shake. cle. All tremolos possible up to the octave. All tremolos possible : up to the octave, °*°°P! difficult. very difficult. etc... AMl tremolos possible up to the octave. This tremolo can . All tremolos possible up to the octave. he executed by means = . of ‘cross-fingering. étew, All tremotos possible up to the octave, _(X) Nowadays ogy excellent shake. x (Risky note. = = oie, All teemotos possible 6. -op4, Gem ¢? up to the octave, © > (#) Risky as All tremotos possible | ee 3 note. — tem “up to the octave, XP and rather heavy. ult. excellent on ‘modern French Oboe. 6S= p=0 te ve Se ew tw very difficult, as well as all above. ~~ pee. gee ‘Very dilficalt, a5 well as all above. =) ‘ = re Oe c ' - (¥) Nowadays SS ete... up a an excellent shake. ty dilficulf a8 well as all above. ——_ Sai very difficult, as well as all above. JW. 14267,THE OBOE. 25 (#) aaa> oy ete up to =e Very difficult, as well as all above. ace . very difficult,as well as all above, bp fe Very difficult beyond, but = is possible with special fingering. is possible with special fingering. THIS shake is executed by means of a special key. Impossible beyond. Impossible beyond. a oS Impossible beyond. 9 Some sixty years ago, the Oboe was ingeniously perfected by Trigbert (of Paris), working upon the suggestions of Barret, a soloist in the Covent Garden orchestra; despite all these improvements, however, many shakes were still impossible, and others not quite “true of intonation. Our modern instrument, constructed in accordance with the views of Georges Gillet, is perfect as regards truth of intonation, and allows of executing all shakes, major and minor, throughout its entire compass, up to F, either piano or forte. 10—AvTHORS AND WoRKS To BE consuLTED: Bach (Cantatas); Mozart (Quartet); Handel (Concertos, Trios, Sonata); Beethoven (Trio, Quintet); Schumann, Dvorak (Pieces); Théodore Dubois (Piéces en canon, Hautbois, Violoncelle); Pieces by Paladithe, Busser, Ferling, Vogt etc. Transposing Oboes. f1—To the Oboe family belong three transposing instruments: the Oboe d'amore,the Cor Anglais, and the Barytone Oboe. JW, 14267.26 THE OBOE. The Oboe d’amore. 12— This instrument is a minor third lower in pitch than the standard instrument. its compass is from ef) sounding: (The low Bb is wanting). Remarkable as it is for its homogeneous quality, why is it not habitually used in our or- chestras? To the Oboe d'amore Bach assigns his most pathetic cantilenas; for mezzo- forte effects nothing can equal the charm of the upper register: Lento. [ui fea (ca, SE Es * — m Sat = SS mu (Qui sedes. Mass in B minor.) Each time the instrument skips by a sixth to the accented beat, in the last three bars of the example quoted above, the effect is truly exquisite. See also, in the same Mass, the Bass air: Et in spiritum sanctum, accompanied by two Oboi d’amore, In this connection too, the Passion according to St. Matthew, the Christmas Oratorio, the Cantatas, the Magnificat, etc. should be studied. 13—The Oboe d'amore is played in the same manner as the ordinary Oboe; it has the same mechanism and can execute the same shakes, save twor (x) + () + —f aie = 0d. impossible. very dilticult. "AL major and minor Ri y a shakes eacellent, up to D in alt. These two shakes (x,y) will be rendered possible by means of a special key, easily fit- ted on to the instrument, if ever it comes to be used in the orchestra. The Cor Anglais. 14-— The Cor Anglais is simply the Alto of the Oboe— the old Oboe da caccia, so much used in former times— a fifth lower in pitch than the standard instrument, with the same re- lative compass as the Oboe d'amore (the Bb being wanting as in the case of this latter instru- ment). Compass: ———— 7 Lacking both the strength and the homogeneous quality of the Oboe d'amore, the Cor Ang- lais exhibits three distinct varieties of timbre. The lower register is very powerful, the upper register weak and sickly. The best register lies between by BS rs SES counting =THE COR ANGLAIS. 7 All figures gravitating around the highest C# are very troublesome for the performer, this being one of the worst notes on the instrument. 15:— Formerly this shake was impossible on the Cor Anglais; nowadays, thanks to a special key, all shakes from low Bk to high Dy can be executed: fa (ANI possible, both major and minor) Remark: The two shakes x and y, mentioned as being impracticable on the Oboe d’amore (see paragraph 13), are quite easy on the Cor Anglais, because this latter instrument actually pos- sesses the special key of which I spoke. 16— Works to ne stuptep: Les Huguenots, Guillaume Tell, Lohengrin, Tris- tan und Isolde, Siegfried, Tannhéuser, Manfred, Le Carnaval Romain, La Prise de Troie, Henry VIII, Samson et Dalila, Sigurd, Salammbé, Le Cid, Thais, etc.— Beethoven (Trio for two Oboes and Cor Anglais). The Barytone Oboe. 17— An octave below the standard instrument, with the following compass: (Bb is wanting) The fingering and mechanism are those of the ordinary Oboe. The Barytone Oboe will form an admirable bass when all the instruments of the same family are concentrated in- to a focus of intense, almost bellicose quality, at the heart of the orchestra, in the im- mediate neighborhood of the Homs. 18 | need hardly refer either to the Musette or to the Pastoral Oboe (in Ab), two varieties of the same kind of instrument, only differing in the reed, for neither is ad- mitted into the orchestra, But | must mention the Soprano Oboe in Eb, used, together with the Small Clarinet in Eb, in military bands; this is a very sonorous instrument with an extremely piercing upper register, and would prove very useful if a complete family of Oboes were at any time required. Its compass is from b The fingering and mechanism are the same as for the other instruments of the Oboe family. So far, the Soprano has only been used ance in the orchestra: by Vidal in La Burgonde. J. W. 14267.28 THE BARYTONE OBOE. 19— Remark: The timbre of the Oboe is so characteristic and predominating that, when us- ing it for holding-notes, for chords, or for background effects, care must be taken to employ the best register only, and to choose the most euphonic intervals, the very aggressive notes of the lower register being scrupulously avoided— in a word, the Oboe must never be “lost sight of.” If, for instance, the following common chord has to be written in four parts, the first of these two ways of scoring it is preferable: Oboes. Clarinets, In the conclusion of the Allegro of the 8! Symphony, Beethoven leaves the Clari- nets, Horns, Trumpets, and Bassoons in the background, bringing to the front the Flutes and Oboes, on which he alone relies: Flutes. Oboes. Clarinets. Trumpets. Horns. Bassoons. Strings. If the Clarinet parts were given to the Oboes and the Oboe parts to the Clarinets, all elegance would forthwith vanish, and the harmonic mass appear to sink beneath its own weight, like a bird with shattered wings. JW. 14267,THE CLARINET. (Ital, Clarinette. Ger. Klarinette, Fr, 1 The compass of the Clarinet is 42 notes, from sequently more extensive than that of the Flute or the Oboe. i It is always difficult to fix the extreme limit of any instrument, as some virtuosi can reach heights inaccessible to others. A in altissimo is here given as the upper limit of the scale, because such it proves to be in the case of the great majority of clarinet- players. In any case, C in altissimo —_ is beyond the most persevering efforts of most performers, and in piano passages G === should be considered the extreme limit. Every degree of the Clarinet’s extensive scale is excellent, but the timbre of the in- strument varies considerably in the different registers, of which it may be said there are three: The dramatic intensity of the chalumeau, of which Weber's predecessors seem to have had no suspicion, was for the first time brought into notice by the Overture to Frei- schiitz. The medium register has a much less characteristic timbre, and the high reg- ister is very piercing. Se Chalumeau. medium. high. 2—When I say that all the degrees of the scale are excellent, | mean, as in the case of the Flute and the Oboe, that the composer need not stop to consider the de- fects of some few notes, relying, as he may, upon the talent of the performer to con- ceal these little imperfections. These defective notes are three in number: eed They are inferior in point of intensity to the neighb degrees of the scale, and should not be used as pivots for figures of any description, but apart from this, they need give the composer no further concern, The same remark applies to ‘the difficult passage from A to By ; when a shake on A is written, it has to be performed by means of a special kind of fingering. 3: Next to the Flute, the Clarinet is the wind instrument capable of most exécution. It shows to great advantage in scale passages (especially chromatic ones), and in ar- peggios of the common chord, or of the chords of the dominant seventh and diminished seventh. However, when the Clarinet is required to play bravura passages, care-must be taken not to increase the difficulty by writing in extreme keys — ©, F, G, Bb and their relative keys are excellent, because they are easy; with D major and Eb major dif- ficulties begin. JW, 14267,80 THE CLARINET. On perusing Die Watkitre, | find only two instances of signatures with three or four sharps or flats, and then only for a few bars, but this is solely due to a sudden mod- ulation not allowing of a change of Clarinet just at that precise moment. Besides, Wag- ner very well knew that, in these particular cases, he was giving the player anextreme- ly simple, slow part to execute, involving no kind of risk or difficulty of fingering. At the first resting-place the composer indicates the change of Clarinet necessary, and the performer begins playing again in C, or in F,or in G. When Mozart, for the first time, assigned arpeggios to the Clarinet in its lower register (Trio dei Mascheri), he chose the key of C. Beethoven used the key of F for a sim- ilar effect in the Finale of the Eroica. 4—C Clarinets have disappeared, and nowadays Clarinets in Bb and A are alone em- ployed. The former are more brilliant in tone; oértuosi have adopted them for their concert- pieces. The latter, lower by a semitone, not only possess an extremely rich and noble timbre, but are also able to descend as low as C# (an inestimable advantage)where- as the Bb Clarinet stops at D. og ce Clarinet 7 = i += ferige = sounding: 6= e 5= Clarinet- players complain of composers who prefer involving them in a thorny bush of accidentals to changing the instrument. It is quite true that it is annoying to have to replace an instrument which has been gradually warming up in the performer's hands by another instrument, colder, and therefore less accurately in tune. But at the end of a few bars the new instrument will be found doing duty as properly and efficiently as the old one, and the performer is satisfied, It seems to rest his lips and give him new life, Of course, | am now speaking of the theatrical orchestra and of long musical performan- ces; in symphonies, which are of relatively short duration, such substitutions are very sel- dom necessary. It is true that the use of the Bb Clarinet is frequently prescribed in an Allegro, and that of the A Clarinet in the following Adagio, but no change is ever made in the course of a movement; the same remark applies to bravura pieces. 2 4. sounding: = 6— Among the wood-wind instruments, the Clarinet alone is able to contrast a piano with a forte in such a marked manner that the former would really seem to be the echo of the latter: Allegro, T Clarinet - == d in Be 3 SE Tidieesenr ze FE “A S>— : JW, 44267,THE CLARINET. a1 The pianissimo of the Clarinets (in the low and medium registers) represents the min - imum of sound obtainable from wind instruments. Compared with Clarinets, Flutes in their lower register seem as intense and metallic as Trumpets would be in a mexzo- Sorte. \t is hardly even a pianissimo; the instrument has almost lost its témbre: 'tis but a whiff of air. 7— Another characteristic of the Clarinet is its neutral tone-color in the medium register, which allows of its blending with almost every group in the orchestra, While the Oboe can be mistaken for no other instrument, the Clarinet can, without attracting notice, take the place of a Second Flute, or of a Second Horn, or even of a Bassoon, its full, rich quality of tone possessing an unrivalled power of blending with that of any other instrument. In his Piano Concertos, Mozart frequently wrote a single Flute part and two Clarinet parts, treating all three instruments in the same manner, as if they were three Flutes, In the Overture to Egmont, Beethoven has ventured to assign the dissonant note of the chord to a single Clarinet, treated as if it were a second Horn, the only instance of want of balance in the whole of his orchestral writing, for this one Gb against one Eb, four C& and two Ab’s is really very weak: Clarinets. Bassoons. Actual sounds, Horns. Egmont (Breitkopf & Hartel’s edition) All musicians must have noticed the “poetic Bassoon" effect produced by the Clarinet in the Ballet des Sylphes. A real Bassoon would have been ridiculously dry, and a Horn too heavy. The Clarinet thus marking the accented beats, beneath the harmonics of the Harp, sounds truly exquisite; it would seem to leave in its wake, as it were, a little spray of sound. And what shall we say of the orchestral peroration to the duet in Béatrice et Bénédict! Note the admirable effect produced by associating the tremolo of the Clarinets with the tremolo of the Violins: Clarinet (actual sounds). Violins (divisi). Violas. Celli. Double-bass. PP’ J.W. 14267.82 THE CLARINET. B= All that has been said about the articulation of the Oboe (§§3,4,5) applies equal- ly to the Clarinet. As in the case of the Oboe, the maximum speed for articulated notes and staccato passages should hardly exceed 4-120, in any one of the registers. C20) fae eee But, as in the case of the Oboe, numerous examples of passages exceeding this speed may be found in Etudes and Concert-pieces, e. g. Clarinet in Bb. (Widor, Introduction (d= 482) Rondo) PIANO. (By win ars-Proprlétaires,) f Heagel ot Many composers treat Clarinets as if they were Flutes, obliging them to articulate as rapidly as these latter instruments in very quick tempo, witness the opening of the Malian Symphony: All® vivace. Flutes. SP Clarinets Bassoons. Horas in A. Clarinet players admit that, in this passage, although they use their utmost endeavors to keep pace with the Flutes, their execution is not really satisfactory, and that if they stood in the foreground they would attract unfavorable notice, JW. 44267.THE CLARINET. 38 9 In the matter of sustaining-power, the Clarinet can rival the Oboe; in fact the two instruments may be considered on 2 par, Take, for instance, the return to Ab, after the phrase played by the Horn, in the Adagio of the Septet: AUS Clarinet in Bb. P SSS dolce. EZ Beethoven.) a good clarinet - player does not take breath after the crescendo (marked +), but only two bars later, after the A. Here is another example: Moderate. —s"“p bp, 1 ve Clarinet in Bb. dimin.ed agitato poco a poco Bre. AF Crese. P “Fy 4 5 Le * Fey eee —— Professor Turban (of the Paris Conservatoire) and myself calculated that a holding-note could be sustained Piano, in the medium register, for 40 or 45 seconds. iF Shakes and Tremolos. 10—Since Boehm's system, perfected by Buffet, has been applied to the mechanism of the Clarinet, all major and minor shakes have become possible, from: A few of these shakes are not very brilliant, others rather difficult, and consequently heavy: & 7 — = —— J banot very brittiant. be bFrather harsh. yd_Y difficult. a B. The fingering of the Clarinet repeats itself in the twelfth, so that the special key which now allows of executing the shake B C$ in the low register also readers the shake F¥ GE practicable in the upper register. possible with a special key. _ He #2(ps somewhat flat) a= ‘This shake occurs in Meistersinger. ‘not very good. (GH somewhat flat.) eee ME oO heavy. 4 J.W, 14267,84 THE CLARINET. ti As a matter of fact, all these shakes may be written, even the doubtful ones (es- pecially when other simultaneous shakes more or less conceal their defects), up to: ote *This Gt is somewhat flat, but might be used to reinforce the Flutes, say. 42—We now give a complete list of shakes and tremolos: Complete List of Shakes and Tremolos. N.B. All tremolos become heavy be- yond the fifth. Aa? GW FFE a PIF Vy heavy. difficult. etc... All tremolos possible up to the octave. a _?? rather dull. S - =a etc... All tremolos possible up to the octave. i _Y rather harsh. = etc... All tremolos possible up to the octave, All tremolos possible up to the octave, etc. All tremolos possible up to the octave. = AML tremotas possible cept. = xe A Bhand 5 e 7 : are always F up to the octave, difficult to attack. heavy = —= All tremotos possible | == 7 elem “ap to the octave, °x°°PH mF a All tremolos possible up to the octave, °X°ePt All tremolos possible up to the octave, °x°ePt: All tremolos possible up to the octave, °*°ePH JW. 44267,THE CLARI All tremolos possible up to the octave, INET. 35 except: etc,,, Ail tremolos possible xcept: All tremolos possible All tremolos possible = Ce up to the octave, xcept: y= ete... All tremolos possible | 4, == "up to the octave, Pte fe ‘etc, SM tremolos possible . oot, "wp to the octave, Pt possible. heavy. N.B. Above G = tremolos become difficult. Possible. difficult. + which is difficult as FERS ete. AN tremotos posible ag, sg wile ts diet Eble. up to the octa + + = tte. ie ifficult beyond. heavy, + All tremolos possible up to the octave, eten. except: B= ditican tego. Z o (Ee (2 (4% All tremolos possible . ta eavy- difficult. L-good. ____ue which it is difficult to .. All tremolos possible up to C in alt. —_— a 2o=3= etc... All tremolos possible up to C in alt. All tremolos possible up to C in alt. attack piano. JW, 14267.36 THE CLARINET. = -e=e— tte. AMI tremolos possible up to éw alt. . All tremolos possible up to C in alt. . All. tremolos possible up to C in alt. . All tremolos possible up to C in alf. = etc... All tremolos possible up to C in alt. = etc... difficult above. etc... difficult above. Higher tremotos should be avoided. good, but Dy is a trifle flat. “+ Di somewhat Higher tremolos should be avoided almost impossible. possible. difficult. Higher tremolos should be avoided, difficult. Higher tremolos should be avoided. (heavy. difficult. a ES tiger tomuin shold bo aided. difficult. s a BEES ticter tonsie snd be oie. ee It is dangerous to rise higher. (Soe §1t, page #4). JW. 14267.THE CLARINET. 37 Transposing. 13— We have already seen (§4) that the C Clarinet is no longer in use, modern composers writing exclusively for Clarinets in B> and in A. All that has been said about either instrument applies equally to both, for they have the same mechanism, the same qualities, and the same little imperfections, The only difference lies in the timbre, the richness of tone, the sweetness and fulness of the A Clarinet, not to mention the valuable C# which the Bb Clarinet is unable to sound in the lowest register, The Alto Clarinet. 44-— The Alto Clarinet is tuned in F, a fourth below the standard instrument (if Bb be con- sidered the normal key). This member of the Clarinet family is not much in use nowadays. Its compass is from ——— sounding: Fg Z No higher notes can be obtained. Mendelssohn has written two Duets for Alto Clarinet and Bb Clarinet. The Smali Clarinet. 15-— This, also, is an instrument rarely used, save in military bands, for which it is tuned in Eb; it sounds a minor third higher than written. Berlioz has employed it in the Nuit de Sabbat of his Symphonie Fantastique, and Wagner in the Finale of the.Walkiire. In this latter work, the Small Clarinet is tuned in D, but the performer frequently transposes his part, playing on the ordinary instrument in Eb. bay, asthe, tt at bas Clarinet in D. A (By viva permission of Schott & C2, Publishers-Proprietors.) The Bass Clarinet. 16— The Bass Clarinet is written like the Bb or A Clarinet, but sounds an octave lower; its compass is from ‘in Bb sounding: = ina BE ——— No higher notes can be obtained. a (Walkiire, p. 442) The lower register, which contains the richest and fullest notes, is, of course, the most valuable, The mechanism of the Bass Clarinet is identical with that of the standard in- strument. The Bass Clarinet is an admirable melodic instrument; Meyerbeer was the first composer to bring it into notice (in the Huguenots and the Prophéte). Afterwards, Wagner used the Bass Clarinet as an almost constant bass to the other wind instruments, as, an auxiliary to the Bassoons, and now and then also for melodic purposes. (See the 3° act of Zannhéiuser, the 20 act of Lohengrin, Liszt's Dante-Symphony (Purgatory), the 2% act of Sam- son et Dalila, etc.) Note the effect produced by the holding-notes for Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, and Bassoons, that form the accompaniment to Elizabeth's prayer. JW, 14267.38 THE BASS CLARINET. {7— The Bass Clarinet can pass from a forte toa pianissimo as easily as the standard instrument itself. If it were necessary to have a phrase repeated in slowly-dying echoes, the effect required could probably be obtained by employing the three following wind instruments in succession: Bassoon. Horn. Bass Clarinet. (Actual sounds). a nn * p Here is an example, from the Legend of the Loreley: Moderato Bass Clarinet in Bb. Bae Horn in F. 6S = po (A. Bertelin.) In this competition of comparative tone-qualities, the Clarinet would certainly take the piani- ssimo prize, by unanimous consent. 48:—Meyerbeer and Wagner have employed the same notation for the Bass Clarinet as for the standard instrument (treating it as a 16 ft. stop); such too is the French practice. But from Lohengrin onwards, Wagner writes for the Bass Clarinet in the F Clef: TEs ae sounding: in A Bass Clarinet 9g Sy ’ This gives rise to a serious misunderstanding, which it would be well to clear up. The Horns and Violoncellos call for an urgent reform in this respect; bewildered as they are by the var ious systems, they are never sure in which octave the composer means them to play. Would it nat be worth while holding a congress to decide the matter? To my mind, notation in the F clef is nearer the truth, To write in the G clef for a Bass- Clarinet playing in unison with a Bassoon in the F clef seems to me as illogical as the pro- runciation of the words ’honorary and ‘honorarium. Let us vote for the F clef. 49-— AUTHORS AND Works To RE sTUDIED: Mozart (Concerto); Weber (2 Concertos, 1 Concertino, Variations, Quintet, Sonata); Spohr (Concerto); Schumann (Pieces); Brahms (2 Sonatas, Trio, Quintet); Etudes for the Clarinet by Kalliwoda, Frédéric Beer, Klose, etc; Pieces written for the Conservatoire competitions by Messager, Marty, Rabaud, etc. For instances of use of B> Clarinet, see, in Tannhduser, the scene between Venus and Tann- hauser in the first act, the entrance of Tannhduser and Wolfram in the second act, and Eliza- beth’s prayer in the third; for instance of use of A Clarinet, the whole beautiful scene of An- dromache at Hector's tomb, in the Prise de Troie. 20— Remark: One of the most frequent mistakes made by students who are beginning to or- chestrate consists in taking the Flutes, Clarinets, or Bassoons as a groundwork on which they attempt to embroider the polyphony of the salient instruments, without duly considering the pitch at which they are writing the Woodwind. What is wanted is a neutral background, i.e. an unostentatious, veiled tone-color— a mere foil— a kind of far-olf organ-music, If holding-notes for the Clari- nets are written in the chalumeau, the dramatic effect of Freischiits is immediately produced, and the background becomes dark and threatening-Hf,on the other hand, holding-notes are written in the upper register, in spite of all efforts made to subdue their squeaking quality, the background is suddenly brought into undue prominence, completely eclipsing the instruments it had béen intended to throw into relief. ‘The true neutral register of the Clarinet, which seems to continue the Flute, bridging over the distance between the latter instrument and the Bassoon, lies in the medium, between K and Bb Even C is much more sonorous, When Robert Franz undertook to arrange the Organ part of Back’s Cantatas for concert-rooms not pos- sessing an Organ, he was obliged to make use of Bassoons and Clarinets. The latter he wrote in the medium register, so as to imitate as closely as possible the almost anonymous sound of a Hourdon or Flute stop’ playing in the medium. He could not do otherwise: nothing can be more dreary than a holding-note for the Clarinet written too low down. JW. 14267,39 THE BASSOON. (ital, Fagotte. Ger., Fagot. Fr., Basson.) 4—The Bassoon has a compass of 37 notes, from In writing for the orchestra, it is dangerous to exceed this upper limit, but in a bravura piece the performer may be required to play up to D,a third higher 4g: Wagner once even ventured to write E, but he was justified in doing so in that special case, firstly because his theme was of such a nature that the high E could not be dispensed with, and secondly because the intensity of the Violoncellos and Violas, playing in unison and doubling the Bassoon part, was likely to neutralize any mistake made at such a height. Allegro. iE oted — ae 4 FE ete et : Bev pret t= (Tannhauser, Overture, p.25.) In former times, the Bassoon was seldom required to descend lower than Gamut G SE=== Later it, became possible to obtain Bb, but neither Bi nor C# could be produced, so that the scale was diatonic for the first few notes, only becoming chromatic from Eb upwards: (diatonic, __1 L_________ chromatic. Mozart, who wrote so admirably for the Bassoon, usually kept it within its old limits, be- tween 2F=== and ===; it was only very rarely that he wrote lower notes, as, for in- stance, in the Overture to Don Giovanni (Double D) and in the Andante of the Concerto in C minor (Double C). 2= In forte passages all the 37 notes of the Bassoon may be locked upon as equally good; not so in piano passages, the lowest By and D being difficult to attack, Eb in the medium register somewhat sharp, the four following degrees (E3, F, Fi, and G) poor and thin in quality, Ab in the highest register unsatisfactory, and the highest D requiring some pre paration: ba = = s = = somewhat poor and thin. bad. requires jeult to sharp. preparation. attack piano. 3= In fact, the Bassoon, although it usually constitutes the sole bass of the entire Wood- wind group, is an instrument of very uneven quality, its admirable low fifth ——— be- ing followed by a fairly good medium register ====—="2=; then, after four weak rates comes an exquisite seventh, with a timbre closely resembling that of the Horn #35, and finally, after a bad Aba dull fourth produced by a tube constantly diminishing in diameter. ie fairly satisfactory. poor and thin. (dmirable. = = ben oF = ‘exquisite. ‘bad. thin. requires preparation. JW, 14267,40 THE BASSOON, The lowest fifth could vie with the Brass in point of tone-power; Bb might even form the bass of the Trombones. However, in that case, the strain on the lungs involved in the pro- duction of such intense sounds would need to be taken into account, and the part written in such a manner as not to completely exhaust the performer. 4= Since Wagner, the Bassoon has often been required to play down to A; it could just as well be made to descend still lower by increasing the length of the tube. Doubtless in a few years all Bassoons will be able to sound this A, but for the present it is well not to write lower than B>, this being the last note on the great majority of instruments. Articulations. 5=— Like the Oboe and the Clarinet, the Bassoon employs only single-articulation. From the lowest B> to the highest B>, throughout a compass of three octaves, all notes can be re- peated or detached, either forte or piano, almost as easily as on the Cello. For instance, in the low register: (es 130) BE In the medium and high registers ( : 138) Deeps ea Of course, when effects of this kind are employed, all prolonging of the difficulties must be avoided, as the tongue soon falters, and the instrument must not be brought too conspicuously into the foreground. 6 The lightness of articulation of a mass of wind instruments, even when they are re- quired to play in very rapid tempo, is a matter for both surprise and admiration; instances abound in the scores of Wagner, Berlioz, Liszt, Brahms, Tschaikowsky, Glazounow, Borodine: since Beethoven there has hardly been a composer who has not thus contrasted the Wood- wind with the Strings, in very quick fempo. Mf each member of the group were examined separately (with the exception of the Flutes, of course), the most astonishing timidity, heaviness, and even absolute inaccuracy of some of them would be discovered. When isolated they become nervous and frightened, but when play- ing all together they are the very image of assurance and self-confidence. 7— The Bassoon, as we have already seen (§2), has several doubtful notes, not quite in tune, whose defects it requires all the performer’s skill to conceal, but when these notes are doubled by the Violoncellos they seem excellent. Here are four bars whose bass had been given by an inexperienced composer to a solo Bas- soon: Andantino. 4 vues. Fe tf Eid pape aE Bassoon. 7S ee =? Now, this bass, being in the register of the fairly good medium and of the weak notes ($3), sounded feeble and out of tune, not through any fault of the performer's, but because the timbre of the instrument was in itself unsatisfactory. JW, 14267,THE BASSOON. at ‘As soon as the composer had concealed these defective notes beneath the pizsicato of the Celli, the passage sounded quite different: Bassoon. Cello. Pizzicato, The instruments all blended in a pleasing ensemble, perfectly satisfactory as to truth of intonation. 7— In the matter of slurred notes, the Bassoon like the Oboe and Clarinet, can rise more easily than it can descend: Allegro. Allegro. 5 : However, descending slurs are practicable in slow fempo, and even in quick tempo when the intervals are small: Vito. Moderato. . Se a a = # Staccato notes, skips of an octave, a tenth, a twelfth, a fifteenth, etc. can be played on the Bassoon with incredible ease and rapidity: Allegro. 5 A a pe as well as all slurred intervals starting downwards from G>, Eb, D, C#, and Cy in the lowest register: JW. 14267,42 THE BASSOON. 9 In slow tempo, descending slurs can be played (always excepting the intervals men- tioned above), provided they are used in an ensemble, and not in a solo: Lento.@ p £ bp * » Boe > fF EYED ED # a ae nee Taking any one of its notes as a fulcrum, the Bassoon can thus descend the scale chromatically, but this is somewhat dangerous, and speed is, of course, entirely precluded. 10:— Is it not astonishing that an instrument descending lower even than the Horn, and able to sound deep notes of such intensity, should also be capable of acrobatic feats which none of its neighbors can perform? What services it renders in the orchestra! It is available for every combination; it blends with every group— Woodwind, Brass, and Strings alike;— it may be put to all kinds of work, It can reinforce an accent cf the Strings, without its presence being even so much as suspected: Allegro motto. 12 Bassoons. 48t Violins aad Violins. Violas. Celli. Double -basses. et Propr : " (Widor, 24 Symphony, p. 130.) It may complete the Horn group, blending so perfectly that it cannot be distinguished from the Brass: JW, 44267,THE BASSOON. 43 And? tranquillo. 7 Clarinet in A. e=t = = == 2 Horns in E. SSF ees Basses, SRS EY Without the least weakness, it can bear upon its Atlas shoulders the whole weight of the harmony: Flutes. Oboes. Clarinets in Bb. Horns in F. Bassoons. (Wagner, Meistersinger, p. 354) Figures played by the Violoncellos and Double-basses, or even by the whole group of Strings, gain very much in energy and intensity when doubled by the Bassoon: Allegro. g a a Flutes. Oboes. Horns in Bb Trump. in Bb. Bassoons. Drums, Violins. Violas. Basses. a - thoven, at Symph.) J. W, 14267, eee eee)aA THE BASSOON. The staccato of the Bassoon can, when necessary, be as light as the prasicato of the Strings: e069, , Flutes and Oboes. Bassoons. Viotins. Basses. (Meyerbeer, Struensee.) Is not this staccato of the Bassoon, in the Serenade of Mephistopheles, fully as supple Oboe. Bassoon. Violins Violas. Mephist. Basses. “Gounod, Faust.) By combining the Bassoon with the Flute, at a distance of two octaves, Mozart ob- tained the sweetest and richest timbre in the orchestra, Sometimes he even writes the Bassoon two octaves below the Violin: Flute. Bassoon. er Violins. = Ef (vase di Figaro) Any score, opened at random, will afford instances of the Bassoon’s singular ability to serve all kinds of purposes with unrivalled facility and efficiency. Bassoon. JW, 14267,THE BASSOON. aS Length of Breath. The lower the pitch of the instrument, the more breath is 41— General rule: required to play it. The sustaining-power of a Bassoon, playing in the lower and upper registersis limited— according to experiment made with the assistance of MP Eugene Bourdeau, the Conservatoire — respectively as follows: 4 2 3 4 Professor at = 80) A bars. prr__A__AL__ 12 3 4s 7 ko = = @ bars, @ = 80) Even in the still higher register, this maximum is seldom exceeded, and, of course, when playing forte, it is considerably diminished, the duration of the sound being in inverse proportion to its intensity. Shakes and Tremolos. 12—From Double B> to Double F no shakes are possible, save the two following: SSS == a From Double F to B> in the Treble staff nearly all are possible, except: be 2 ba be be ae Complete List of Shakes. not good, but possible. Possible. Impossible. good, but heavy. somewhat sharp. Possible. — Impossible, 7—E" Gmpossible, as well as in the octave above.) owt, SESS ey = j bs x Bad. (bad, as well as in the octave above) Good. 5 ; —= aE Bad. Cimpossibie, as well as in 'the octave below.) (pofsible, but Prat good) 1.W, 14207.46 THE BASSOON. Good. Bad. Good. = a _ a ES = (had,as well as in ‘possible, but the octave below) not in tine) Good. Higher sbakes are hardly avail- able for orchestral purposes. Bad. * Remark: The major shake on E (KE Ft) was formerly reckoned one of the most awkward, but all the modern rirtuosi, having carefully practised it since Hizct’s time, can now execute this shake brilliantly. Bassoon, Orchestra.| a ts & 4 77) ropetstsice.) (Carmen, p. 13— Tremolos are hardly practicable on deep-toned instruments like the Bassoon and Horn; it would be difficult to quote an instance of their employment in any of the works of the great masters, Below Tenor © the effect produced would hardly be satisfactory; from this C upwards thirds, or even greater intervals, are sometimes used, but the third itself is often impracticable, if not rising, at least falling. + + FSS AE impowivie veyend, PERSE See te 2 : ZEBEREE GE tnvositie vent, PSE impositie beyond : x FEEEEEE topasine von. DEP oposite seyos. Impossible beyond. BA Aa e_ i ke fhe fp Impossible beyond. E- = ] Impossible beyond. a e | * XB. Beyond thie Sagepery Impossible beyond. Port tremaige become Rfarst eapossi. Jw, 14267.47 3 THE BASSOON. ae Impossible beyond. 7 Sco Impossible beyond. pet 4 eH ‘ye +, “ge FRA] mpossitie besond === Impossible beyond. te : a Bes Impossible beyond. ee—= Impossible beyond. Impossibie beyond. 4 Impossible beyond. No higher tremolos possible. WORKS AND AUTHORS To BE STUDIED: Mozart (Concerto, Serenades, Quintet); Weber (Concerto, Andante and Hungarian Rondo); Beethoven (Quintet, Octet, Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano, Septet, etc.); Schubert (Octet); Rubinstein (Quintet); Reinecke (Octet); Thuille (Sextet); Raft (Sinfoniette); Suites by Ch. Lefevre, Piemné, etc, Etudes by d0zi, Gambaro, Neukirchener, Milde, etc. TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS. The Basson-quinte. 14-—The Basson-quinte has not yet been made, but bassoon-players are calling for it. It would form the true bass of the Woodwind group, a fifth below the standand instru- ment, descending consequently to Eb, a semitone lower than the Double-bass: sounding: SE — ‘80a bassa...! The low A which Wagner wrote below Bb is admirably rich and full; ‘then’ say profession- als, ‘why not descend to Eb, with the same fingering and the same capabilities as the ordin- ary Bassoon?’ We have already seen (§3) that the low fifth, from Double Bb to Double F, is sufficiently robust to bear any weight of sound; the “new” low fifth would be still more robust. The Basson-quinte is said to be easy of construction; we look to instrument- makers to provide us with it in the near future. (See C. Pierre, La facture instrumen - tale a V’Exposition de 1889), The Double—-Bassoon. 15=— The Double- Bassoon is pitched an octave below the standard instrument —bubsleee-net_ 4. Its compass is written: BE from 3 The Double-Bassoon is made either of wood or of brass. It is decidedly inferior to the Bassoon in point of timbre, especially in the reglster common to both instruments. Satis- factory in the first seventh, it begins to grow weaker from Double B4 upwards, diminishes con- siderably in intensity in the neighborhood of F# 2===—all higher notes being obtained by overblowing— and comes to a stop about S==, with a nasal twang like that of a toy Altogether inferior trumpet. to the Hasson. Actual sounds: ae 4 gfe 2 4 ee Timbre growing more an ike that ofa, Toy Trumpet, F ===48 THE DOUKLE- BASSOON. The first low octave is alone fairly satisfactory, when used in slow fempo to play deep pedal-notes sustaining the Woodwind, or even the Horns, but staccato notes are to be en- tirely eschewed. The manner in which the tone is produced is much the same as in the case of the Bassoon, but the reed, being larger, is slower to vibrate, so that florid and staccato passages are very ineffective on the Double-Bassoon. Beethoven, in the 9th Symphony, treats this instrument very carelessly, first making it rise to A, and then giving it rapid passages to play, which it cannot possibly execute in a satisfactory manner; they sound like bravura effects performed on a bad Harmonium: (AU? maestose) Contrafagotto. (AU? energicn) — Contrafagotto. SEF (Prestissimo.) Contrafagotte. Rees These weak notes of the upper register and these florid passages, which would be difficult even for an ordinary Bassoon, are lost in a compact mass of sound, where the most exper- enced ear can distinguish nothing. Beethoven cared very little about details; besides he was deaf when he wrote his immortal work. 1 mention all this as a caution to young composers not to be too venturesome, unless they happen to have Beethoven’s genius. Here, on the other hand, is a fine effect produced by a Double-Bassoon brought into prominence; nothing can sound richer and deeper than its Double G beneath the low G of the Horns: Allegro, Flutes. Piccolo. Oboe. Cor Anglais. Clarinets in Bb. Double - Bassoon, Horns in F. : : = Gaipt Sains, pep _4x_#x_A&e_¥_ St Symph.p. 228) (By wind permialon of Messy A: Daraad flo Eelears-Propldtres) Robust lungs are needed to play the Double- Bassoon; the low notes, especially, consume a deal of breath. The maximum duration of a low holding-note cannot exceed two bars moderato. So, care must be taken, when this instrument is placed in the foreground, to write in such a manner as to allow it the requisite intervals of rest. 14267,49 THE SARRUSOPHON: 4=— The Sarrusophone is a rival of the Double-Bassoon, over which it possesses dis- tinct advantages as regards both facility of emission and intensity in the low register. The column of air contained in its very wide tube is set in motion by means of a double-reed like that of the Bassoon, which instrument the Sarrusophone also closely resembles in its mechanism. . The Sarcusophone is sometimes accused of having a rather nasal and reedy quality of tone, so that the vibrations sound like a succession of little shocks. © Each separate vibration, say its detractors, can be perceived as distinctly as those of a 32-ft. organ- pipe, when the ear is in the Immediate proximity of the striking reed. This is most un- Just criticism. | When the instrument is in the hands of a player accustomed to the bas- soon-reed, these defects in a great measure disappear. It then produces a full rich tone, forming an excellent bass of the Wood-wind group, since it can descend without hesitation to the extreme depths of the orchestra, an octave below the Bassoon: Compass: SF sounding: 3E — be be Loco gra bassa...! 2=— The Sarrusophone is written in C, and corresponds to a 16-ft. organ-pipe, just as the Bassoon corresponds to an 8-ft. pipe. When used in conjunction with the Celli and Double - Basses, the Sarrusophone produces the effect of a Gamba-bass or very sweet Bombarde; it gives them a very characteristically pen- etrating tone. 3— The Sarrusophone family is complete: Compass: Sounding: Compass: Sounding: be ' 33 a Soprago = = Contraco in Bb. oe re in Eb. a Tenor Ss Barytone in Bb. in Eb. be Bass Double-Hass of in Bh in Eb. 4; bi None of these interesting varieties have yet been used in the orchestra, Saxophones being preferred, As, however, the deepest-toned instrument of the Saxophone group cannot de- scend lower than the ordinary Bassoon— the size of the Double-Bass Saxophone making it practically inconvenient — the Sarrusophone in C stands without a serious rival in the ex- treme depth of the orchestra. 4=— This instrument possesses two really full-toned and remarkably powerful octaves (XY): qrexcelient quality, » ba Lnot so goods bi From Y upwards the tone of the Sarrusophone becomes dry, resembling the high register of the Bassoon; but this matters little, the lower octaves alone being really important. All the notes of the Sarrusophone are as. flexible and supple as those of the Obse or the Gor Anglais; they can be attacked forte or piano — swelled or diminished — with e- JW, 14267.50 THE SARRUSOPHONE. qual ease. All the notes can be produced with the same clearness and precision at the bottom of the scale as at the top. Even in quick ¢empo, staccato passages, like the following, are practicable: (- nz) BS = (Sounding an octave lower) ptt "tess g A Double-Bassoon in such a case would have no tone-power whatever, while the Sarruso- phone overcomes the difficulty almost as easily as an ordinary Bassoon. Articulation. 5— The maximum speed attainable is about as follows: (Actual sounds.) (For 2 consecutive bars.) B00 bass ee (Actual sounds.) Gs) (BE : TS (For 8 consecutive bars.) ae ee . gee # loc. | (Actual sounds.) F =F —7—Es— (For 4 consecutive bars.) The breath can be held about as long for sustained as for detached notes. In moderate tempo, the lowest C can be sustained forte for two, or piano, for three bars: (J: 8) BE A SA P The C an octave above can be held for 4 or 5 bars, Shakes. 6— All the shakes of the Bassoon are reproduced on the Sarrusophone, the fingering of the two instruments being the same. Even in the lowest octave, shakes can be performed with speed and precision (Sounding an octave lower.) In short, the Sarrusophon¢ ids in much the same relation to the Bassoon as the Double- bass to the Violoncello, The two pairs of instruments may be treated in a parallel manner, Bassoon, sounding: Sarrusophone] as What the Bassoon can do, the Sarrusophone is likewise able to perform, within the limits assigned to low notes, which are, of course, heavy in proportion to their depth, and must be treated like people of consequence. _ Saint-Saéns and Massenet have employed the Sarrusophone in several important works. It is an instrument which will come more and more into use, especially now that it has been perfected and its low register extended downwards; (a few years ago it could not descend lower than 16-ft. C). In Paris, it has been adopted by the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Colome and Lamoureux Concerts. It is now beginning to appear everywhere. J.W. 14267.BL Chapter II. — + — The Theory of the Tone-production of Brass Instruments. 1 Let us take a tube; for instance, the long Trumpet that we see in ancient bas-re- liefs. What are the sounds obtainable? “Only those which correspond to the vibration of the whole column of air, or of half, or of a third, or of a quarter, etc., according to the amount of pressure exercised by the lips? When the whole column of air is made to vibrate, the fundamental tone is sounded; when half the column of air vibrates, the second upper partial is obtained; when a third of the air-column is set in motion, the third upper partial is produced, and so on, Let us assume the fundamental tone is 8-ft, C— the lowest note of the Violoncello;— the following series of harmonics can be successively obtained: . ybo jo 2 P23 £5 6 7H 9 OH WH 4 15 16 Just as the circular waves produced by a body falling into water draw mathematically closer and closer to each other in proportion as they get farther from the starting-point, so these sound-waves, first an octave apart (1-2), then a fifth (2-3), then a fourth (3-4), then thirds and seconds apart, finally almost merge into each other, separated only by thirds, fourths, and eighths of a tone. Just attempt writing down the 16 sounds of the 16-32 actave, the 32 of the following octave, the 64 of the next octave, the 128 of the still higher octave! 2 The theoretical compass of all the brass instruments extends throughout the whole series of natural harmonics from 1 to 16, but, in practice, it is much more limited, Very wide tubes, like those of Tubas and Contrabass -Tubas, can alone sound the fundamental tone; the other brass instruments start from the second upper partial. Very narrow tubes, such as Horns and Trumpets, can alone reach and even go beyond the 12th, 13th, and 14th upper partials. And yet these 13 or 14 notes, unequally scattered throughout two and a half octaves, have, for centuries, sufficed to give power and brilliancy to the orchestra. Neither Handel, nor Mozart, nor Beethoven, nor Weber ever suspected that a Trumpet would one day be able to play four chromatic semitones in succession, or a Horn come down the scale with- out jolting. Owing to the breaks in the scale, the Trumpet could (up to the 7th partial at least) only proceed by skips, like a sparrow hopping from branch to branch. Writing a Horn quartet was like solving a puzzle, each of the parts neglecting all kind of logical progression, in order to give chase to the sonorous note. 3=— The invention of valves removed the difficulty, setting the composer at liberty, and giving him very equal diatonic and chromatic scales throughout the whole of the har- monic series, also bringing exactly into tune the degrees which did not coincide with our tonal system, e.g. the 7th and ‘1th partials. It then became possible to constitute, in the heart of the orchestra, two new groups of sound able to compete with the others in point of flexibility, viz. the Horn group and the Trumpet - Trombone -Tuba group. In short, the invention of valves loosened all fetters and flung wide the dungeon gates, JW. 14267.bz BRASS INSTRUMENTS. the following table, which refers to the 4-piston Tuba in general use: The valve lowers the pitch of the instrument by lengthening it, as may be seen from 1234 5 6 7 8 9 4011 12 1314 15 16 None of the pistons depressed. I Atel suds. ————— obs ho 2 — 1:23 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1213 14 15 16 2 and piston depressed. Il ‘All notes lowered by ‘2 semitone, 418! piston depressed. 1 All notes lowered by eras a whole tone. = ast & 2nd pistons depressed. TV | © Ati notes towered by a tone and a half. ? 3rd piston depressed. v ‘AIL ‘notes lowered by ‘two whole tones. 2nd & 384, or (better) 4th iston’ depressed. lowered by 244 tones. — All nots 4st & ard (or At and & 3rd), VIL | or 2nd & 4th pistons depressed. All notes lowered by 3 tones. ——= ast & 4th VIII] pistons depressed. All notes lowered by 3% tones. ast and & 4th Ix pistons depressed. All notes lowered by 4 tones. ~ 123 45,6 78 9 0M 12 13 4 45 46 3rd & ath x pistons depressed. — = AIL notes lowered by 4% tones. —— = ber 4 bo eee 4234 5 6 7 8 9 10 1243 14 15 16 xi pistons depressed. All notes lowered by 5 tones. 7 oS aa 2.3 4 5,6 7 8 9 40 41 12 43 14 15 16 XII pistons depressed. = All notes lowered by 5% tones, rr ve txt and and & 4th XI pistons depressed. All notes lowered by an octave, ——~ JW. 14267. 23 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 41 42 13 14 15 16 1 ker boBRASS INSTRUMENTS. 58 Such is the theoretical compass of five chromatic octaves, which might even be exceed- ed upwards. But we must add at once that no single performer is able to travel over such extensive ground; the most skilful cannot embrace more than three and a half oc- taves. 5:— Excepting the Tuba, Contrabass-Tuba, Valve-Trombone, and a few Barytone Sax- horns, all the other instruments have only three valves, so that the number of combin- ations tabulated above is reduced, in their case, to seven (I, Ml. Ill, WV. V. VI. WILD, corresponding to the seven positions of the Slide-Trombone. Such are the seven com- binations possible on the Contrabass -Tubas in E> and B> of military bands, The others only concern instruments little used, and which, besides, cannot descend to the funda- mental. 6— Looking at the natural scale of harmonics, we see that the brass instruments fall into three groups: Horns and Trempets. (e 4 (#) In the orchestra of to day a small Trumpet is employed, whose har - monies Sound an octave higher, in unison with those of Cornets and High Saxhorns. (See P. 68, 36) Cornets and Bugles. Tubas and Hombardons3E If we now compare the length of the tubes, we get the following figures, taking as a standard the key of Bb, common to all of them — Cornet in Bb. . . . . . . « length of tube 4 ft. 5 in. Trumpet*#. 2... = 8 ft. 5% in, * Trumpet in Bb dassoan octave below the modern Horn (in Bb basso)... . = 47 ft. 7 in, Trumpet. C-B Tuba. 2. - 17 ft. 8 in. So that Cornets correspond to 4 ft. Trumpets to 8 ft, and Horns and Contrabass - Tubas to 16 ft. Organ stops. However, in practice, things are somewhat different. In reality, Cornets and Trumpets, enclosed within the same limits, play at pretty much the same pitch, and in such a parallel fashion that, in many secondary orchestras, without regard for the composer's intentions or the difference of timbre, the Cornet re- places the Trumpet, the latter being much more risky and dangerous to play.54 BRASS INSTRUMENTS. 7— The distance between the harmonics diminishing as they rise, the subdivisions of the tube become so minute that the least hesitation, the least mistake in the pressure of the lips may cause accidents. Take this theme: The old Trumpet will play it, making use of the harmonics 4 to 12: = ae 6 89 10 412 The Cornet in B> will sound the same notes, making use of the harmonics between 2 and 6: (The notes marked with crosses could not be obtained but for the pistons.) The Gornet, whose best notes lie between the 2"d and 5th or 6th harmonics, will re- produce this theme with a lightness of articulation, an ease and rapidity altogether su- perior to the Trumpet. In this medium register, “diatonic and chromatic scales, shakes and runs are child's play for the Cornet: it is capable of as much execution as a Flute or a Clarinet!’ Qn the other hand, can it compare with the Trumpet in point of timbre, especially in the high register, where it becomes poor and colorless? Has it the same power, no- bleness, and dramatic intensity? 8— We have just ($6) classed Trumpets and Hors in the category of instruments which cannot emit the fundamental tone, This is comprehensible in the case of the Trumpet, but what about the Horn, whose length, equal to that of the Contrabass-Tuba, ought to allow of descending quite as low? The answer is that the Horn cannot sound its fundamental tone, because its tube is too narrow. In contrast with the bellying tube of the Contra-bass Tuba, the Horn has a slim and elegant figure which prevents the lips from acting efficiently in the lowest register. Besides, there is the question of the size and shape of the mouthpiece, which affects not merely the ¢imbre, but also the more or less easy emission of the notes. The fundamental tone can only be sounded when the diameter and length of the tube bear a suitable ratio to each other (Cavaillé- Goll's law), and a special mouthpiece is also required, varying according to the family of instruments. 3. W, 14267.THE NATURAL HORN. (Ital. Corno. Ger., Waldhorn. Fr., Cor simple.) 1 It is only from the historical point of view that | mention the Natural Horn, now- adays almost universally discarded. Without artificial aid, the Waldhorn can hardly sound any notes but the harmonics between 2 and 16 inclusively. ——— Os ad 2 8 4 67 9 10 tf 12 13 14 15 16 Sounding: = 7 Remark: Horn-players read the F clef an octave lower than they ouxht; to use two clefs to write these four notes of the harmonic series 2=—=—= ought really to be written in the F clef alone =e="= : a. Thanks to supplementary tubes, called crooks} the harmonic series may te transposed, the fundamentals available (about a dozen in number) being as follows: Horn in Bp basso, length of tube 17 ft. 7 in. — BRL - 46 ft. 10 in. - ¢ - - 16 ft. 1 in. - ob 5 15 ft. 3% in. —- DL - 14 ft. 6% in. = & — S 18 ft. 75 in. - - 42 ft. 9 in, -~ F . S 12 ft. in. -¢ - - 10 ft. 945 in, —- be = 40 ft. 145 in. a | - 9 ft. ein — 8b alto - 9 ft. 2 in - cL - 8 ft. 4% The lowest note obtainable is the C (#) of the Horn in Bb basso, i, e, Bb for the ear. JW. £4267.oe THE NATURAL HORN. The highest is the G (# of the Horn in A, i.e. E for the ear, * 23 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 tH 42 2 To get the intermediate intervals, the horn-player inserts his right hand in the bell, cutting off half the air, and flattening the open notes by a semitone: Good stopped notes: % + + ft as 2 8 9 10 1 12 1314 15 16 Remark: As the 7th, 11th, 13th, and 14th partials are out of tune in our seale, the player, in or- der to utilize them, bas to flatten them by “stopping” The semitones thus obtained below each of the open notes are excellent. Muted notes and overblown notes are also very valuable, on account of the variety of color they impart to the orchestra; we will speak of them at greater length in the following section dealing with the Valve-Horn, The notes produced by cutting off more than half the column of air are dull, not quite true of intonation, and difficult of production: Very bad stopped notes: Such is the instrument for which the classic masters wrote; breaks, deficiencies, and inequalities are to be met with at every step, and it is impossible below the 7th har- monic to come across two conjunct degrees of the same timbre. True, with the sim- plest means the most powerful effects are frequently obtained, and with such limited resources Weber has created masterpieces. Three notes suffice for Oberon’s magic Horn: 2. JW. 14267,57 THE VALVE-HORN. (tal., Corno cromatico. Ger., Ventithorn. Fr., Cor & pistons) 4.— Valve-Horns are made in several keys: E, Eb, D, etc., but nowadays only one kind is used: the Horn in F. The indications to be met with at every page in modern compositions (Muta in D, in E, in F, in G) are for the convenience not so much of the performer as of the composer, who prefers (supposing there is a sudden change of key) to make use of the natural notes ra- ther than of numerous accidentals. He writes as simply as possible, and it is the player's part to understand him aright. The chromatic scale of the Valve-Horn extends from factual sounds) Its 38 notes are perfectly homogeneous, and its compass, as will be observed, is much the same as that of the Bassoon, which, although it can descend a semitone lower, los- es by comparison with the Horn in the upper register: Bassoon. Horn. Good notes. $e + + ‘Thin notes. 2 We may here notice an appreciable difference between the capabilities of the two instruments. : While the bassoon-player can perform all kinds of acrobatic feats throughout the entire compass of his instrument, and can pass from one register to the other as easily as a pianist on his keyboard, the horn-player has to choose between the high and the low register, as he cannot play satisfactorily at both extremities of the scale, because the lips assume a particular shape according to the register which the horn-player chiefly prac- tises. The 1S horn-player is to the 2%¢ what the Tenor Trombone is to the Bass Trombone. The First Horns (of the two or three pairs in our orchestras) play the high notes, the Second Horns the low notes. 3—To meet the requirements of both categories of horn-players, instrument - makers now construct two kinds of Horns: ascending Horns and descending Horns, a modifi- cation in the 3° piston sufficing to enable one kind to rise easily and the other to de- scend easily. N.B. The 39 piston raises the whole scale of the ascending Horas by one tonc,and lowers the scale of the descending Horns to an equal extent. The compass, in actual sounds, of our two chromatic Horns in F is as follows: Ascending Horn: = = = = + Usual orchestral compass. Concert Solo compass. = bs) Notes obtainable Complete chromatic in case of need scale, including G#. Descending Horn: N. B. The Gt marked with a cross is the only note wanting in the chromatic scale of the as- cending Horn. JW, 44267.58 THE HORN. Notation. 4— Octave that can be’ oe oS 4. itan-i0- eH eE = SS Valve -Hora. Sounding: As we have already observed (P. 55), the notation of the Horn in the F clef is an octave too low. Suppose, for instance, two Horns playing in the octave Y 2; if one be written in the G clef and the other in the F clef, what is in unison for the ear will be in the octave for the eye. Triumph of absurdity! Why not make the F clef the natural continu- ation of the G clef? In this chromatic scale of 43 notes none are defective, and, with the exception of the GH (D#+) wanting on the ascending Horn, there ar Horn. Sounding: Three Varieties of Tone-Color. 5r~ Besides the rich and poetic quality of the open notes, the Horn possesses two o- ther kinds of very special and characteristic tone-color, viz. “stopped notes” and “overblown notes?’ Stopped notes are obtained by means of a mute (sordino); overblown notes by the in- sertion of the hand in the bell. The former are weak, the latter powerful, Stopped notes, which should be indicated by the word sordini (in German: geddmpfd), are equivalent to the most absolute pianissimo— the echo, so to speak, of the open notes. Nothing is more easily or more quickly accomplished than slipping the mute into the bell; the performer does not so much as interrupt his playing, for, while holding the Horn with his left hand, he slips in the mute with his right. LPP Borin.) ea Moderato. St Moderato, PR sordini) Jw, 14267 mf (Popular Theme.)‘THE HORN. 59 Andante. Flutes & Clar| Horns in F. PP (Gedimptt.)|P P (By kind permission of J. Scbuberth & C9, Publisbers-Proprietors.) (Liszt, Faust.) Though barely audible beneath the undulating figure of the Violins, the velvety tone of the Horns is, in this case, extremely gratifying to the ear. Overblown notes, whose production involves considerable effort, are obtained by closing half the tube with the right hand: the lips attack the semitone above the note required, and the insertion of the hand lowers the note to an equal extent. If, for instance, the player wishes to sound D as an overblown note, he attacks E>, his hand at the same time lowering the column of air by a semitone, The composer has several ways of indicating these overblown notes: (1) simply by a cross placed above the note to be overblown: + Horns in E pa => = = ta (Wagner, Tristan) —— * (2) on by the word cuioré (in German scores gestopft *f): (Gestoptt.) ‘ ** (wagner, Rheingold) (3) or by a cross and the word cucore’ (gestopft f): +(Gestopft.) Horns in EB = “bb 4 (Meistersinger, s=———— p. It sometimes happens that the word cuioré is accompanied by the indication piano. In that case, the note can be overblown at the moment of attack only; immediately after the attack, the tone becomes very subdued, like that of the muted Horn. > Horns in E PGestopft.) P(Gestopft.) The Horn can be played con sordino throughout its entire compass. Stopped notes pro- duced with the aid of the hand can hardly be obtained below the 3°¢ upper partial: * Gestopft means simply “stopped? but accompanied by an accent yor by the indication f or gf i i+ understood in the sense of overblown. JW, 14267.60 THE HORN. In his Requiem, Berlioz has written an overblown F# (a semitone lower) for two Hors in unison the effect still being tolerably good, but this is the extreme limit. When Valve-Horns were beginning to come into vogue, they were assigned to the second pair of horn-players, being subordinated to the first pair, who still retained Natural Horns. — When the first pair was assigned a note not belonging to the natural scale, accompanied ty the indication forte or sforsando, as no mistake was possible, the composer had no need to give any special directions; these stopped notes forte were necessarily overblown, as, for instance, in Faust: in Eb. Natural Horns in C. Méphisto. Strings. SSE \-#(Gounod.) Sometimes, as in the Damnation de Faust, the composer thuught fit to specify the ef- fect he desired in parentheses, although this was needless: ¢ ___ (Sons _bouchés), in C. Natural Horns in F. SSS “en quusne sie gnastu = re Berlice) To sum up, in order to avoid all chance of misunderstanding, we must in future confine gurselves to the two following formulae : Con Sordini tor all pianissimo effects. Cuivre (with a +) for stopped effects forte. It is sometimes necessary, after these special effects, to indicate the precise moment when the Horn is to come back to natural sounds. The word “open” (in French “ouvert!! in German “offen") is used for this purpose. (See Rheingold, Page 181). Méphisto Speed of Articulation. 6 Despite the great length of its tube, the Horn can articulate rapidly, making exclu- sive use of single-articulation in the lower register, but towards the higher part of its compass, from the 3° partial upwards, dowble and even triple articulation may be employed, so that the Horn can bear comparison with the Flute in point of execution. The opening of the 204 act of Tannhéuser, for instance, would be impossible with singde- articulation, considering the quick rate of movement. The maximum speed attainable in the low register is: JW. 44267,THE HORN, 61 in the medium register (single- articulation): (J = 420) Register of double and triple articulation, where the speed that can be attained is almost unlimited: 3 Remark: However, the strain on the lips involved in the production of high notes is hardly com- patible with great speed of emission. It is prudent not to go beyond the ot! or 40th harmonic, when making use of double and triple articulation Length of Breath. 7— The following are the results of experiments made with the kind assistance of Mt Pénable, Concert -Colonne soloist: (Js 120) FES 5 bars Sorte. 7 bars mezzo forte. pa EE In the medium register, from the 4th to the 8th partial $ keeping the same metronomic rate of movement (#= 120), the human lungs allow of sustaining eleven bars forte, 14 meszo-forte, and 25 piano. We must add that this can only be accomplished with the utmost effort, and would be a dangerous experiment in the orchestra, The production of the high notes, inasmuch as it involves great air-pressure, severely tasks ‘the lungs, so that such long holding-notes can hardly be expected above the 8! and 9th harmon- ics. Shakes. 8— The pistons are never used for shakes; in this tube, so very narrow considering its great length, the air cannot travel fast enough to attain the object in view. Consequently, horn - players make use of their lips only. Major shakes come out well; (they are only possible from the 5th to the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th harmonics). Register in which shakes are practicabl the best part of this register is: # upper partials are better avoided in orchestral wi dangerous for the majority of players. Minor shakes do not come out so well; they are only possible with the hand in the bell, and are really of very doubtful quality. Shakes between the 12th and 45th ing; they are suitable for o/rtuosi, but Crooks. 9— The Valve-Horn can change key as easily as the Natural Horn, when. needful. Each key has a special crook, a hollow ring interposed between the mouthpiece and the body of the Horn, The shorter the tube, the higher the scale rises and the nearer the sound seems to come to the lips; in the end, the player feels as if he held it tight be- tween his teeth, so that it cannot escape, He is as sure of it as the draughtsman of his pencil, which he holds near the point for very minute work. 3.W. 14267,be THE HORN. So, if the performer has to play very high, he makes use of the FH, G, Ab, Aly and Bb crooks: Presto. . Horn in Ab os voce in ay eB P BE if (Beethoven, 7tt Symphony) The crook corresponding to the key of F has two coils 8 inches in diameter, the Ab crook a single coil of slightly inferior diameter, and the Ak crook a coil only 5% inches in diameter. How could Schumann venture to write up to such giddy heights, between the 8th and 20th harmonics, for the first of the 4 Horns in his very interesting Concerto? 2 Allegro. <— — a (Herlioz, La reine Mab,) 5 Allegro. ge 8 Hora in F (Concerto for 4 Horns.) (a Finale) Virtuosi are so much afraid of this Concerto that, although they are willing enough to rehearse it in the orchestra, they will never venture to play it in public: the danger isreal- ly too great! Siegfried’s horn, which reaches the 16th upper partial, goes straight ahead, without any kind of hesitation or fear, because it moves forward by regular degrees, and because it feels that it is getting gradually nearer to the goal, where it expends its full force: (By Kind permis of Schott & C9, Publishers Proprietors.) But Schumann's Concerto is far more dangerous; there is not a page without a stumb- ling - block. 10— In paragraph 1 we spoke of the indications to be found in modern scores (Muta in D, E, F, G, etc.), rather for the convenience of the composer than in the interest of the performer, who usually transposes into the key of F. Indeed, he plays everything in F, save in the exceptional cases which we have just no- ticed (§9), It then, in the course of a piece, the composer thinks it necessary, for the sake of a- voiding too many flats or sharps, to change the key of the Horns, he may do so without troubling himself about the means by which the change can be effected, Take, for in- stance, this passage beginning in F and finishing in E, “Weyer Fe Here are two modern ways of writing it: Horns in F Gt 7 = The result is the same; it is only a matter of determining the most favorable place for the change of key; it is a mere question of neat appearance for the eye. Performers are accustomed to this sort of exercise, and are never taken by surprise. The composer may implicitly trust to them. J.W. 14267.THE HORN IN THE ORCHESTRA. 41— Four Horns make an admirable quartet. When the Horn-quartet is added to the Woodwi doubled. A Solo Horn moving softly through the Strings blends with them most harmoniously. It is one of Wagner's favorite devices. When blended with the Celli and Double-basses, the Horn acquires a singulary pene- trating quality of tone, which one might fancy to be that of a soft Trombone: Moderato, the volume of sound is more than AF) Horas) mt @) Violonceltos Faz = Double-bass, PEE Sa StS f —— (ise) == — The four Horns playing piano or forte can be heard through the whole mass of the or- chestra: ‘Adagio. kegs pore aa ? Ff The Horn and Clarinet in unison are exquisite: ae to. cantabile. —= Clarinet in Bb. Horn in ‘nf cantabile. dim, Pr (C.Franck, Symphonie.) (tamale, Editeur. Propeiétnice,) In the following choral given to the Brass, the Solo Horn doubles the first Trombone very efficiently: Adagia sostenuto. 4st Horn in F. Trombones. Tuba. (Ganaye, Ouverture dramatique) JW, 14267.64 THE HORN. The following combination of two Clarinets and two Horns, little known before Mozart, but so often used since, is very even in quality, the two kinds of tone-color blending admirably: Andantino. # a Clarinets ia =F Horns in Eb. P . b bmp—w Strings. bP Se — pam t (Flauto Magico) The next example shows some light, bounding chords from the Roi de Lahore, that leave behind them a vibration as pleasing to the ear as the white mist of a summer's morn to the eye: Allegretto. in Fb oo) in Bb Strings. AP : = (By wind oprictaires) (Massenet, Le Roi de Lahore) Note also this charming effect of the Horns and Flutes, accompanied by the holding- notes of the Strings and the rhythmically recurring figure of the Harp: a = Flutes, = = mf lespressiva Horn in G. (e—=——=B=9-F > Harp. Strings. (By bind permission of A.Durand et Mis, Kéitours-Proprittairs,) (Saint-Saéns, Danse Macabre) In a chord played by all the wind instruments together, nothing can equal the stopped Horns at the extreme end of a diminuendo, to give the impression of a dying echo: JW. 14267.THE HORN. 65 Flutes, 3 Oboes. 3 Clas. in BD. Horns in F. 3 Bassoons, 3 Trumpets in F. 3 Trombones. P (Wagner, Siegfried) (By kied peemision of Schott & CP, Peilsbers-Proprletors.) 4st Remark: When the Horns are written in four parts, the bass is naturally obliged to expend more wind than the other parts,and to take breath oftener, being at the same time less son- orous. It is better, when sustained notes are needed, to make use of the Hassoon, which is less fatiguing for the player and forms a more solid basis to the harmonic group: Tranguillo, quilt. ————__ —~ oe — dolce, Horns in F. s dolce. Bassoons. (By ind permission of Schott & 09, Pubilshers-Froprietors.) (Humperdinck, Hansel und Gretel.) 2nd Remark: As we have usually four Horns in the orchestra, it must be remembered that the first Horn of each pair is an ascending Horn,and the second a descending Horn, conse~ quently, the high register must be confined to the ‘St and 34 Horns, and the low register to the 20d and 4th, 12— AUTHORS AND WoRKs TO BE sTUDIED: Mozart (Quintet); Beethoven (Sonata, Quintet, Sextet and Septet); Schubert (Octet); Schumann (Concerto); Brahms (Trio); Saint-Saéns (Romance); Dauprat, Gallay, Mohr (Schools); Fried. Gumbert (Solobuch JSitr Horn), ete. Read Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (who writes down to double Bb in the 9th Sym- phony), all Weber, all Wagner, and all the modern authors. Jw. 14267.66 THE NATURAL TRUMPET. (ital, Tromba. Ger., Trompete. Fr, Trompette.) 1— We have already seen (P. 51, §2) that the narrow diameter of its tube would not allow the Trumpet to sound its fundamental tone, its scale in practice only beginning b with low E (actual pitch): ‘Average compass Ss This E has nearly always been regarded as the inferior limit of the instrument, In Manfred, Schumann ventured to write £b, a semitone lower, but prudent conductors us- ually transfer this note from the intimidated Trumpet to the 1St Trombone: Allegro. % Flute: Oboe. Clarinet, ‘Trumpet in Eb. Violins. ‘3 2-— Like the Horn, the Natural Trumpet has crooks, which lengthen the tube more or less, and transpose ‘the harmonic series into nearly all keys: Trumpet soundings . eS SS Se 8 in Bb Sounding: Sounding: Sounding Sounding: Sounding: Sounding: 3 = — per ban ber ban ‘Sounding: <é —————— S—_= ba JW. 14267.THE NATURAL TRUMPET. —= Sounding: G——— 7 eal > vs «ai 4) N.B. The tith partial is always given in parentheses; we have already seen that it does not exactly coincide with the ath degree of our scale. This list of the keys of the Trumpet ought really to begin with A, but it is a key of very indifferent quality on the Trumpet, and consequently very little used. In the 7h Symphony, Beethoven writes his Trumpets in D; likewise Mendelssohn in the Italian Symphony, but he changes to E for the last two movements. Neither Beethoven nor Mendelssohn uses them in A. The Trumpet in A would be in unison with the Hor in A; the Trumpet in Bb is in unison with the Horn in B> alto; the Trumpet in Bk is in unison with the Horn in BE alto, and so on, 3:—The Horn in © alto and the Trumpet in C are two non-transposing instruments producing the same actual sounds. Their quality, however, is quite different, We have already observed that the shape of the mouthpiece greatly influences the quality of tone, and that the mouthpiece of the Horm is twice as deep as that of the Trumpet—sometimes even deeper; the little cup which serves as a mouthpiece for the Trumpet is not 1% inch deep, whereas the long, conical mouthpiece of the Horn measures about an inch. The conical mouthpiece is necessary for instruments with a soft velvety tone, like the Horn, whose timbre blends so well with the Woodwind; on the other hand, the hemis- pherical mouthpiece of the Trumpet produces power and brilliancy. “It is easy to understand the influence exercised by the shape of the mouthpiece on the formation of the sound, when it is remembered that in this cup the sound-waves are generated. We cannot therefore too strongly advise performers to employ exclusively such mouthpieces as long experience has shown instrument-makers to be the only ones suited to the timbre of the instrument for which the said mouthpieces arz constructed” (Mahillon, Eléments d’ Acoustique.) 4=— It is hardly necessary to point out, as we did in the case of the Horn, how limit- ed are the resources of the Natural Trumpet, for which the composers of former times could write nothing but the natural harmonics, conjunct degrees being available only from the 7th partial upwards. They had not even stopped notes at their disposal, for their quality was so execrable that the two or three instances of their employment resulted in miserable failures. THE VALVE- TRUMPET. 5 As in the case of the Horns, the invention of valves remedied all the defects of the Trumpet, allowing of a regular chromatic succession, and bringing into tune the har- monics out of tune in our scale. From low E to high Bb, the chromatic scale is com- plete; all the degrees are very even and true; all the notes are excellent forte, nearly all piano: ba Excellent: gr JW, 44267.68 THE TRUMPET. g qo 8 goo Po Cscctteat Emission difficult. register, g Difficult. “Good. =] bax 6= Like the Horn, the Trumpet can change key when necessary, For a long time the keys of D, Eb, Et, and F were in use, the two last having a quality of tone incompar- able for its beauty and energy; but, within the last ten years, not only have the old keys been discarded, but the harmonic series has at a single bound skipped an octave higher, for this composers are responsible, as they have kept on writing higher and higher, oblig- ing performers to seek for more pratical means of playing in the high register.— It is no longer an 8 ft. but a4 ft, Trumpet that is used at present; it is a compan- ion to the Cornet and has the same dimensions: Old Trumpet in C basso. eal Length: 7 ft.8 in. o 2 Modern Trumpet SSS in C alto, a Length: 8 ft. 1% in, ® 7=—The modern Trumpet is played in the keys of A, Bb, By, C, Db, and Dy. The following figures show the length of tube of the various Trumpets. Trumpet in Dy = 3 ft. 5% in, » Db = 3 fi, BY in, » 6 =38 ft. Min, » Bh = 4 ft.2 in, » Boa 4 ft5 in, » A =4 it 8 in, C in alt. Sounding: Sounding: Sounding: Sounding: Soundinj JW, 14267,THE TRUMPET. 69 Remark: The Trumpet in D (#) is required for Bach's works; it is not used otherwise, for, gen- erally speaking, notes above Hb (actual pitch) lose the timbre of the Trumpet, and produce the sensation of a large Flute rather than of a brass instrument. Besides, Gt and A fF, so what need is there for so yctual_ sounds) 4a cannot be attacked piano, and still less B and C high a key? : ‘The true compass of the Trumpet is two octaves, from G to G and within these limits nothing is so fine and so powerful as the old Trumpet in F— (in F or in E, according to tonal necessities). Compared with this manly and imperious instrument, the tone of the little modern Trumpet sounds almost like that of the Cornet 2 Pistons. Wagner scrupulously avoids making too free use of the high notes; it is quite exceptional- ly and to produce a special effect, that he writes up to C in alt (actual pitch) in Parsiful. It is likewise quite exceptionally and in a yy that he sends the F Trumpet up to He (act- ual pitch): we? t (March for the Centenary of American Independence) (By bind poomiovion of Sotott & @,,Pablishers- Poynter) Trumpet in F However, the performers of to-day have all adopted the Trumpet in C, easy to play in the high register. Nearly all have a tuning-slide which allows of falling one tone below Fk basso; when it is necessary for the Second Trumpet to descend still lower— to the E> of Manfred, for instance — it takes the B> crook, and its tuning slide not only allows it to play E> but even D (actual pitch), so that the 2 Trumpets of a pair, the 18 in €, the 2nd in Bo, have the following enormous compas: sinc. % (Actual Trumpets: P Sounds) ood Remark: The tuning-slide is not used far keys lower than Bb. Articulation. 8.— Like the Flute, the Trumpet makes use of three kinds of tonguing: single, double, and trifle articulation, so that it is capable of great rapidity of emission: _p Allegro. Trumpet in K. (By tnd peri (és 88) Trampets in D. Flutes. Oboes. Clarinets. Bassoons. (Berlioz, Menuet des Follets.) B. 259. JW, 14267.70 THE TRUMPET. Presto, (d= 160) Trompets in E. % 2 27 NS Na Na ot Be -Proprtétaires) (Lalo, Le Roi Ys) (Gy kind permission of Hesgel et Andantino Solo, ¥= Trompet in G. Violins. Basses, Trumpet in Hb. ‘Trombones. Violins. Basses, (ay tind permission of C.F Pers, Péter Proprtaie,) (Wagner, Kaiser-Marsch,) The following are about the maximum speeds attainable in the low and medium registers: — (d= 420) # ve However, the passage must not be very long, on account of the fatigue of emission and consequent heaviness of articulation, Length of Breath. 9— Piano, the Trumpet can, in moderate tempo, sound a holding-note of 8 or 9 bars in the low register: (d= 120) é EAE and with the same rate of movement, it can hold a note in the medium register for 12 or 14 bars: (J = 120) P It is needless to observe that these numbers are halved in forte passages, because then the expenditure of breath is doubled. JW, 14267,THE TRUMPET. nm Shakes. 10— We have seen that the Horn does not make use of the pistons for shakes, With the Trumpet, it is just the reverse: it can only use its pistons. The following are those which may be used: (the cross means bad; the double cross ém- possible), 1 13 aot 35 good. " 8 16 tolerably good. = —I 17 Re Hav Cf somewhat sharp. P. + 6 8 i difficult. possible, 7 5 == difficult, very difficult. anti ery diffiew : i ; difficult and unsatisfactory. " difficult. + D be which is relatively easy. It is dangerous to attack these extreme degrees without preparation, but when easier and surer notes precede them the danger is obviated. Nothing is more frequent than a cadence like the following, for instance: — ir Cornet in Bh % and the Bb thus prepared is excellent. So we see that the best notes of the instrument lie between C (29d upper partial ) and G (6th upper partial). 3=Cornets and Valve-Trumpets have the same mechanism, the same capabilities, the same possible and impossible shakes.— Like the Trumpet, the Cornet makes use of sin- gle, double, and triple tonguing, Still more easily than the Trumpet, thanks to the shape of its mouthpiece, it can perform the wildest acrobatic feats: runs, iterated notes, chromatic scales, etc. JW. 14267.76 THE CORNET. “But its technical resources!’ says Gevaert, “show to the best advantage in the sec- ondary forms of art — military and brass bands— where it is treated as a bravura instrument!’ See Alex. Luigini's interesting Caprice. However, we must not forget services rendered; Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Bizet, and their contemporaries used Cornets instead of Trumpets in the orchestra. Till within the last few years, composers in the West of Europe wrote for 2 Trum- pets and 2 Cornets, and it is only quite recently that 4 Trumpets have again come into vogue. Allegro. az. ‘Trumpets in Bo Cornets in B>. oitegettt apts St (Berlioz, L’Enfance du Christ.) Trombones. Orchostra. Cornets in Ab, ‘Trumpets in Eb Trombones. Ophicteide. Flutes. (Orchestra). Cornets in Bb, Bassoons. Triangle. P (Gounod, Faust) JW, 14267,THE CORNET. 17 Moderato. Trumpets in A. Cornets in A. Trombones. Orchestra (Bizet, — —— “CA rlésienne) Flutes. (Orchestra) Trumpets in E. Cornets in A. Orchestra. Violins. ‘Trombones. me srn-rapatuinn) Wid0% Ouverture Espagnole) (By kind permission of Heugel et cle, x At present, Comets are gradually disappearing from the orchestra, and Trumpets are tak- ing their place, thus resuming their legitimate position. SW. 14267.18 THE TROMBONES. (Ital. Tromboni. Ger., Posaunen. Fr, Trombones.) 4— Bach, Gluck, Mozart, and Beethoven (in his youth) always wrote for 3 Trom- bones— Alto, Tenor, and Bass. Despite its admirable ¢imbre, akin to that of the Trumpet in F, the Alto Trombone has now became more or less obsolete, because its compass being much the same, it is al~ most a duplicate of that magnificent instrument Alto Trombone: Trumpet and Trombone complete each other, the former being, as it were, the higher section, the latter the lower section of a single keyboard. If the Alto Trombone was necessary in the orchestras of yore, which never had more than two Trumpets, it is not so indispensable now that we have three or four Trumpets. 2: In the last chapter (P. 74, §13) 1 mentioned the theories started in connection with Bach's Trumpet. Its inability to produce any notes but the natural harmonics pre- vented it from taking part in conjunct polyphony. It was never the Trumpet that played the soprano part in the quartet of brass instruments, but the Cornetio, or else a kind of high Trombone nowadays almost unknown, “Zé was a characteris- tic German custom, on Sundays and Church holidays, to have the Choral for the day played by a band of Cornet and Trombone players, standing in the tower of the principal church. Bach introduced this effect into his Cantatas, the brass instrument group playing alone or doubling in unison each of the vocal parts” (Cantata N? 25). So, the Cornetto and the Trombones were grouped together, and the Alto became an indispensable voice in this robust quartet. The old formula Alto, Tenor, Bass remained in force till the Symphony in C minor, Afterwards, Beethoven adopted the system of writing the two first Trombones on one staff, never exceeding the limits of the Tenor Trombones, and Weber and his successors followed his example. Then, when 4 Trumpets came to be used in the orchestra, the Trombones being ever more confined to the lower parts of the harmony, the Alto became more and more ob- solete, THE TENOR TROMBONE. (Ital. Trombone tenore. Ger, Tenorposaune. Fr., Trombone ténor)) 3 Compass: 35 voles, from ESSE tp Pee Its mechanism is simple; the slide, which can be drawn out to seven different lengths, displaces the harmonic series each time by a semitone. JW. 14267.THE TROMBONES. 19 1st Position. ‘The instrument is, 50 to speak, closed, the tubes fitting into each other. The fundamental tone, termed pedal-note, is practicable. 2nd Position. ast lengthening of the slide. The fundamental tone is practicabi 31d Position. 2nd lengthening of the slide, The fandamental is no longer so practicable. 4th Position. ard lengthening of the slide. The fundamental is still tess practicable, St Position. ath lengthening of the slide, The fundamental tone cannot be sounded. 6th Position. sth lengthening of the slide, The fundamental tone cannot be sounded. 7th Position. eth lengthening of the slide. The fundamental tone cannot be sounded. Here is the complete scale, with indications above each note showing the position which allows of sounding the said note. As will be seen, some degrees are common to two or even to three positions: VIVE V IVI 1 VuvI Vv IVI 1 viivi v wit 1 vuvi vivini vuvIviIvind 1 Sea Bios (® This Bs is of indifferent quality in a rapid passage, but good when held for some time. When possible, avoid the 7! position, which requires the maximum extension of the slide, and is therefore the most difficult of all, the two notes Double E+ and B+a fifth above, which can only be produced in this position, are the worst on the instrument. JW. 14267,oo THE TROMBONES. 4=—The remark made on P.57 (§2), concerning the Horn, applies equally to the Trombone: in the case of both instruments, performers have to choose between the high and the low register, as the lips cannot play in both registers with equal ease. It is evident that, after having sounded the 8th, oth, and 10th upper partials, the performer will find it difficult to descend without mistake or hesitation to the low voles: Gf, €: SESE ‘As a matter of fact, the really sonorous register is comprised between Gamut G and Bb in the G Clef: Pow rogisier, _ Sonorous register. All degrees in this register are good, save two which are somewhat difficult. to attack; but this slight imperfection, which the player's talent should correct, need not be taken into account by the composer. The low notes must not be too much relied upon, for they are lacking in strength, and the performer who has to play them is soon out of breath: Moderato, t 5 Pedal-notes: This is the name given to the fundamental tone of each po- sition, Theoretically, all seven should be practicable, including Double E; in reality, the only practicable ones are the first two: Bband A, Ab being risky, and G very danger- ous However, the manner in which Bb or A is attacked is not says Berlioz, “is to proceed by skip of a fifth or an octaves” different. The best way!’ Moderato. Orchestra: = + Andante. t Tenor SS SS ‘Trombone. pas a ON ae A very correct remark: emitted thus, these pedal-notes do not seem to differ from the other notes, being neither slower of speech nor weaker in tone: Moderato. JW, 14267,THE TROMBONES. st Length of Breath. 6—The amount of wind required to play the Trombone is so great that in a forte the performer is obliged to take breath at almost every note: Andante maestoso. a3, 4a AAA wy) Wagner, in this case, does not take the trouble to mark the breathing-places, for he knows that the performers will take breath everywhere; on the other hand, he care- fully marks the legato passages, and, to preclude the shortening of the last note of each Legato group, he places an accent over every note. “Give me change for my money; Gounod used to say, “if 1 give you a shilling, 1 want twelve pence back; if 1 write a crotchet, don’t play a quaver!” In the theme of the ‘Pilgrims’ Chorus, the notes marked legato in bar ¥ do not indicate a punctuation, but a sostenuto of the phrase; “don't cut down my time values) says Wagner, “let me have them complete On the other hand, the slurs in bars X and Z show that breath is to be taken after the second beat, while— such is the meaning of the accent over the note—, at the same time, the length of the second crotchet is curtailed as little as possible. This system of articulating and taking breath simultaneously (a method peculiar to the Trombone) corresponds to detached bowing on the Violin. When the composer for the Violin wishes to have the full tone-power of the instrument, he asks for one bow per note; he marks no slurs, but to prevent any mistake, he writes’ above the passage: sosfenuto, which means: “let there be no intermittence in the linking of the notes; let the Zegato be uninterrupted” The Trombone proceeds in the same way; when able to economize breath (in piano passages), it can play legato as well as any other instrument; just as the violinist gives a bow to each note, so the trombone-player gives an articulation to each motion of the slide, and that, too, sostenuto assai. ‘Tenor Trombones, Tromb, Bass ‘Trombone. Tromb. JW, 14267.oe THE TROMBONES. Have we not always heard the following transition, placed by Schumann at the end of his Larghetto, “hermetically” slurred by the performers? ~~. ‘Trombones. Bassoons. ae (Symphony in Bh) Remark: Schumann sometimes uses the Alto Clef for his two first Trombones, which he writes like Alto Trombones, as in the following extract from the 3f4 Symphony and in the preceding illustration from the Symphony in Hb. dew) <-> ES in Eb Horns in Bb Trombones. : bd at le Pt er * F Note the extreme lip-tension required to sound the high Eb + of the Horn and Trom- bone. This is certainly a striking example of very dangerous composition. Yet, in our modern orchestras, we have players skilful enough to sound this Eb harmoniously on their Tenor Trombone, the public not even so much as suspecting the difficulty, but professionals, a~ ware of the danger, feel a thrill of suspense at the beginning of the piece, and only breathe freely when the difficulty has been overcome. Let us be careful not to write so high. Bassoons. 7—In the preceding paragraph, | referred only to slurs between notes belonging to dif- ferent positions; it is hardly necessary to add that, like the Horn, the Trumpet, the Cor- net, etc, the Trombone can emit a succession of harmonics having a common fundamental with one single articulation. a BY ast Position: eth Positios P SS f J.W. 14267.THE TROMBONES. 83 8: This instrument, which is so short-winded in forte passages, and obliged to take breath at every note, is remarkable, in piano passages, for its astonishing sustaining - power: g g WN ~ Moderato. foderato. | i 24 ~ Ie $10 oN ww \ Violins. Violas. ‘Trombones. Basstubs py; Viotoncetto Double-bass. Fo dim. > poco marcato, (Parsifal) (By Kind permission of Sebott & G2, Publishers-Proprictors.) Through eight long bars, the Trombones hold their respective notes quietly, and without giving any sign of fatigue; then the sound vanishes like mist, without our so much as notic- ing its slow tip-toe ¢ Articulation. 9—It goes without saying that the lower the Trombone descends, the heavier the emission becomes. It is evidently difficult to sound the fundamental tone of a tube 8 ft. 10 in. long, like that of the Tenor Trombone (Bb), or 12 ft. *4 in. long, like that of the Bass Trombone (F), Not only did the classic masters dispense with these low notes, but they carefully a voided anything that looked like a bravura effect, Nowadays, thanks to the skill of in- strument-makers, many things formerly forbidden have become possible. While Beethoven and Weber always wrote in semibreves, minims, and crotchets, Berlioz and the modern school are not afraid of much livelier rates of movement, or even of prolonged florid pass- ages, which come out very well, on condition they are written in the sonarous medium re~ gister: Allegro. bas Mephistopheles suddenly appearing. f (88 =d) es ==] (Marche Hongroise.) JW. 14267,84 THE TROMBONES. No one would formerly have thought of using the following articulations, from Gétter- déimmerung: Allegro. 3 Z Tromb. fp (By Kind permission of Schott & C2, Publishers Proprietors.) (The low G + is difficult to repeat) 3d permission of Schott & C2, Publi Ppp (By kind permission of Heugel +t CIE, Editeurs-Proprietaires.) | (Saint-Satns, 374 Symph.) (2-120) £ £ z Proprietors.) Viotins. as | oe ge (hy vied permission of Hengel ot Cl Réltenrs-Proprietairen) (Widor, La Korrigane) ‘Tromb. The performers of to-day look upon these passages as mere child's play. But set them to play the Scene of the Commander — ask them for Mozart’s long sus- tained tones; you will see them shake their heads and beg for time to collect their strength, and indeed they have need of it all: Andante. d a : : = Violins. Trombones. Viotoncettos. Double-basses. JW, 44267,THE TROMBONES. 85 (Don Giovanni.) The whole scene should be studied, note by note, Can there be anything more dra - matic than the Trombones rising in octaves under the chromatic harmony of the orchestra, or anything more impressive than the crescendo of these sounds of brass? Allegro Hipg: IP Orchestra, ‘Trombones. Violoncellos. Double-basses. JP pcr) 7 ka SP Pe =P Remark: The low Eb (#) is possible on the Bass Trombone, for which instrument Mozart wrote the part. J. W. 14267.386 THE TROMBONES. Shakes. 10—Shakes are impossible with the slide; they can only be produced by the lips: the only practicable ones are between degrees of the scale which stand one tone apart in the harmonic series, i.e. when the 7th, 8th, and 9th partials can be employed. = (18 Position) In reality, the only possible shakes are as follows (the positions being indicated): aug “tw be _— be? = v it 1 1 Vv Lately, as 1 was passing near a public ball-room, | heard such strange bellowings es- caping from the Trombones that 1 went in and asked the performers, as soon as the dance was over, to show me their music. This was what they had been playing: Tempo di marcia. 3 ‘Trombones. Side Drum. Kettle-drum, and to wind up: 3 Tom. BSS Astounding effect! One would have thought it was the Beast in Revelations, with a cracker tied to its tail, roaring “Fire!” through a speaking - trumpet. It is not likely that this effect will ever be used in a symphony, any more than the shake, and 1 only mention it here on account of its rarity This fantastic howl is produced by the combined action of the slide and the lips, as a glissando is performed by the finger on a stringed instrument. It is very easy to execute, and suitable for a nigger dance. {i= AUTHORS AND WoRKS TO BE coNsuLTED: | must repeat the advice given in connection with the Trumpet; read all the scores published since the time of Bach and Handel; the special literature of the Trombone is as poor as that of the Trumpet, but all the masters have written for both instruments, each one treating them in his own personal manner, and it is these various manners which must be studied. The brass instruments of Bach and Handel are written very high; those of Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, in their true register; Schumann's sometimes too high, sometimes too lows Wagner's usually in the rich medium register, but not without a secret predilection for the low register (Bass Trumpets, Tuben, Bass Trombones, Contrabass Trombones); those of the young contemporaneous school with just the contrary ‘tendency, especially as regards Trum- pets, a tendency to be regretted, for it is anti- instrumental. We must read, compare, and take advantage of the experience acquired by our predecess- ors. JW. 14267,87 THE BASS TROMBONE. (Ital., Trombone basso. Ger., Bassposaune. Fr, Trombone basse.) 12. It is the Tenor Trombone transposed a fourth lower. obs & DS Jef Position Fundamental tone theoretically practicable. and Position. Fundamental tone theoretically practicable. 3rd Position. Fundamental tone impracticable. ath Position Fundamental tone impracticable. 5th Position, Fundamental tone impossible, 6th Position. Fundamental tone impossible. 7th Position. Fundamental tone impossible. The Bass Trombone is admirable as to tone, but di and special lips. Its compass is as follows: cult to play, requiring robust lungs All that has been said about the Tenor Trombone applies equally to the Bass Trombone, with two restrictions, the first concerning the slowness of speech of a tube 12 ft. long, the other referring to the difficulty experienced in producing the pedal-notes (fundamental tones). If the Tenor Trombone can barely sound as pedal-notes anything but Double Bb and Double A === === == the lower notes not coming out, still less can the pedal-notes of the Bass Trombone be obtained: 2S a oe be 2 Not only have the great masters never employed them, but they are very careful not ta indulge in too free a use of the lowest notes of the real scale, They rarely write lower than Eb eS JW, 14267.88 THE TROMBONES, Take, for instance, the score of Tristan; do you know how many times Wagner in- dulges in a Bb? Once only + (P. 76), and just see whether he tires the performer by the length of the note: Oboes Clarinets in 15] Cor Anglais. Horns in F. Bassoons. Tenor, ‘Trombones. Bass. Violins. Violas. Basses. JW. 44267,THE TROMBONES. 89 He does not make the Bass Trombone descend to E> more than 8 or 9 times; the fol- lowing exquisite holding-note + pianissimo (P, 250) is one of the cases in question: dolce. Pe, * pphiete IS Flutes. ‘PPP Bassoons. inF Horns in E. Tenor ‘Trombones. Bass Kettle-drum. Harp. (By kid permisston of Broltkopt & Mirtel, Editoars-Proprtat Twice he writes D: Andante, DP Tromb. —= = ppp Ten. ‘Trombones. Bass = = = = 7 pp——_""—-""“~ — ppp (P. 319.) JW. 14267,90 THE TROMBONES. So that the whole of this score contains at the most one Double #4, two DS, and a few vs, And when it is a question of holding-notes, Wagner never employs anything lower than Eb, and always piano. One of the rare examples of a holding-note forte is to be seen at the end of the 2nd act of Parsifal; but admire the prudence of the musician who has his Bass Trombone doubled by a Tuba, and only asks the Trombone to play fortissimo for 4 bars, while the Tuba continues for 8 more: Orchestra, Ten, Trombones. Bass. Tuba. gfe ae hapa (By iad permission of Schott & C%, Publishers Proprietors) dim. THE CONTRABASS TROMBON 43:-The Contrabass Trombone is an octave below the Tenor Trombone, like the Double - bass compared with the Cello, o, more precisely, like the Sarrusophone compared with the Bassoon. In its first position, its harmonic series is as follows: ie bebe = al Wagner makes use of this instrument in the Tetralogy. It is hardly necessary to add that it is even more difficult to play, and requires a mouthpiece still more special than the Bass Trombone, and that all the remarks made about the latter instrument apply with still more force in this case. = 2 Bat 23352 Trombones, fe F RED Hass Trombone, Contrabass ‘Trombone. dim. = 7 (By ind permission of Schott & C2, Pullishers=Proprietors.) (Reingold) As Gevaert very judiciously remarks, it would be more practical to write the Contra- bass Trombone an octave above the actual sounds, as is done in the case of the stringed Double - bass, the number of leger lines becoming troublesome to both performer and score - reader. N.B. Instrument- makers are beginning to construct Soprano Trombones, as in the time of Bach. These instruments have the same compass as Cornets It need hardly be added that they are not capable of as much execution, the slide mechanism being unable to compete with the valve mechanism.91 THE SAXHORNS. A= This is a separate group of absolutely different timbre from the other brass in- struments, the tube of the Saxhorns being conical, instead of cylindrical like that of Trumpets and Trombones. Ht we enquire into the origin of the Saxhorns, we can trace it back tothe almost for- gotten family of Keyed Horns and Ophicteides. The group consists of seven instruments: .Saxhorn, or Small Bugle in Eb — or Bugle in Bb - or Alto in E> Barytone....... — or Barytone in Bb (#) This is the instrument used in Bass (#) — or Tuba in B> (or in C) the orchestra as a bass to the Trom- bones. (V. §s, P. 94) Deep Bass... — or Bombardon in Eb (or in F) Double Bass — or Contrabass-Tuba in Bb Except the Tuba, which has four or even five pistons, all the members of this family are analogous to the Cornet, having the same number of pistons, making use of the same mechanism and of the same fingering. 2xIt is unnecessary to enlarge upon the differences in the dimensions of the tubes, upon the facility of emission of a Bugle 4 ft. 3% in. long, compared with the increas- ing heaviness of the lowest notes of the Contrabass-Tuba in Bb, which is 17 ft.8 in. long, or to repeat that, at such depths, speech becomes slow and bravura effects are not to be expected. 3—It would be well to admit the Saxhorn group into our orchestra, This perfectly homageneous mass, with a total compass of five octaves, would serve as a firm and mellow background for the brilliant flourishes of the Trumpets and Trombones. It would serve as a foil rather than as an element of combination with them. This is what Wagner intended when he conceived his Tenor-Tuben and Bass-Tuben (re- spectively in Eb and Bb), which are nothing but modified Alto and Bass Saxhorns. The total compass of the group is as follow: (Little Bugle, Roe (Contrabass -Tuba.) The Saxhoms are made of brass; their length is invariable, i. e. their key never changes, for they make use of neither tuning-slides nor crooks. 3.W. 44267,92 THE SAXHORNS. SOPRANINO SAXHORN. (LITTLE RUGLE IN ¥b) 4—In German: Fliigelhorn piccolo in Es: Compass: = i This is a very high, shrill instrument, capable of great execution; it is not very use- ful in the orchestra, unless for some special effect, but suitable for military bands, where it plays the Sopranino part; the following are the limits of its various regis- ters: sounding: % it High register. The notes of the high register, especially the three last semitones ===! 1 cannot be attacked without pre- are very dangerous and difficult. Even high A 3 paration; it has to be led up to by a scale or some kind of figure: _ -_—e * @2~ = ef Pep PSH souting QS Bhp 6 Se It is played like a Cornet a Pistons; it has the same mechanism, the same easy e- mission, and the same single, double, and triple articulation. \t is a Cornet, but a Cornet higher by a fourth. Its _most characteristic name is the German one: Fliigelhorn Piccolo, which clear- y points to the fact that it is the Piccolo of the family; it is not a melodic but a bravura instrument. SOPRANO SAXHOR: (BUGLE IN Bb) S—In German: Fliigelhorn in B: i i This is an instrument with a soft, mellow, poetic timbre, and is less vulgar than the Gornet, to which it corresponds in compass, It has hardly been employed more than once in the orchestra, and even then its part is usually played by the Cornet (Robert le Diable, last act); it is true, Meyerbeer, being dead, is unable to protest. As its compass and mechanism exactly correspond to those of the Comet, there is nothing special to note about the Bugle, the capabilities of both instruments being i- lentical. Excellent register, (Hardly’ practicable.) :THE SAXHORNS. 93 Ff is dangerous, but the two following octaves are excellent, and the high register is not inferior to that of the Cornet, which latter instrument frequently rises to C. Remark: Except Ft, the low notes are of much better quality and purer of intonation than on the Cornet. Bugles in Bb. = sounding: Although capable of great execution, the Bugle is more especially an expressive in- strument, and ought to be used chiefly for melodic purposes. ALTO SAXHORN. (ALTO IN Bb) 6— In German: Althorn in Es: Compass: This is a rather inferior instrument, which does not play as a soloist, but usually forms part of the background to the polyphonic instruments. It is the connecting link between the Soprano and Barytone Saxhorns. However, it articulates with considerable ease and can hold a note for some time. tes) High register. best quality. It is imprudent to descend lower than C y unless other instruments in unison or in the octave are at hand to make up for its defective quality. Alto in Eb. Sa EP Pee pa J= sounding: aS 0 in eau HE pad outing: a a See It is a background instrument, a kind of orchestral padding. BARYTONE SAXHORN. (RARYTONE IN Bb) 7— tn German: Tenorhorn in B, or Bass-Fliigelhorn: (g) = sounding: —— == —— FE io Compass: This is a much more pleasing and attractive instrument than the Alto, and possesses the great advantage of being able to descend with relative ease, at the same time emitting without difficulty some pretty high notes. In reality it corresponds to a 16 ft. stop, while the Bugle corresponds to an 8 ft. stop. It is written like the Comet, but sounds an octave lower, | <> pften ot sounding: SPER JW, 14267. eS oSoe THE SAXHORNS. register. fe Medium. ‘xeellent register. acti Apart from the highest notes, which, of course, gradually become thinner in quality, the whole of its compass, and in particular the medium, has a full, soft, rich tone, re- calling that of the Horn. It is, besides, capable of very satisfactory execution. Like the Bugle, the Barytone is an expressive instrument, better adapted for melodic than for florid passages. It is the most perfect instrument of the whole family. BASS SAXHORN. (rua) 8—In German: Basstuba: This is the only instrument of the Saxhorn family that has been introduced into the orchestra so far. Thanks to the addition of supplementary valves, it can descend as low as the Con- trabass -Tuba. However, as its tube is relatively narrow, the low notes which are com- mon to the two instruments are nothing like as rich and full as on the Contrabass- Tuba. Bass-Tubas are constructed in © and in Bb, this latter key possessing two extra semi- tones in the low register: Bass-Tuba in bb, SP (Actual sounds.) But, whichever instrument is used, the general practice is to write for the Tuba in C, the performer transposing when necessary. It we consider this extensive scale, we find that the most interesting register (the very low one) is unfortunately the we Less sonorous. a woe ; but it is imprudent, when scoring for the orchestra, to write lower than 1 and even this note should be sparingly used, as well as all the degrees comprised in the third X Y. On the other hand, the two octaves between Y and Z are remarkably intense and rich in quality. IW 4267.THE SAXHORNS. 95 The Tuba, which has with great advantage replaced the Ophicleide, is not so satis factory a substitute for the Bass Trombone, for the two kinds of tone-color do not blend well; the soft thick tone of the Tuba jars with the metallic timbre of the Trom- bones, and the comparison is altogether to the disadvantage of the Tuba. But tet us try to be content with what we have got, and remember that neither Beet- hoven nor Weber had these deep bass notes at their disposal. We give some examples showing the use that can be made of them: (= 432) 3:4 Trombone. Tuba. (By kind peraission of A. Durand et Fils, Editears-Proprictaires) (Saint-Sains, Suite Algérienne.) 31d Trombone. Tuba. ia Mey aiteurs-Propriftaires) (Massenet, Scimes Alsaciennes.) Bass Trombone, Taba. (Glazounow, 644 Symphony) 9— Despite its extreme depth, the Tuba is not incapable of some execution. Here is a scale, for instance, which comes out very well: (d= 10%) 2 a) Ss po = Results of experiments made with the kind assistance of Captain Soyer, Bandmaster of the 24th Infantry Regiment, Paris. 3 Z. 10.— Of all the Saxhorn group, the Tuba is the only member having special mechanism and fingering. While the other Saxhorns are modelled on the Cornet with 3 pistons, the Tuba, having five pistons, is necessarily played in a different manner, Such is, till some better instrument has been invented, the usual bass of the brass instruments; so far it is the most currently employed and most practical. Doubtless, the future has something better in store for us. J. W, 14267,a6 THE SAXHORNS. THE DEEP BASS SAXHORN. (BOMBARDON) {t—In German: Tuba in Fin Es. It is tuned either in F or in Eb. Compass: sounding: ee 3) be G This instrument is not used in the orchestra, but only in military bands, as a con- necting link between the Tuba and the Double-bass Saxhorn in Bb, which latter it usually doubles. THE DOUBLE-BASS SAXHORN. (CONTRABASS-TURBA) 12. In German: Kontrabass-Tuba. It is tuned in Bb. SSS sennding: SSS It is written like a 16 ft. stop, e.g. * = sounding: FS = a == ees Compass: + Double -bass 3 fa Hh Saxhorn in Bi —— As will be seen, this is, of the whole family, the member that has the most limited compass, but, on the other hand, it is perhaps the most sonorous. All the notes of the scale come out well, down to G, and the execution is satisfactory, despite the great depth of the notes. Wagner had a Contrabass-Tuba in C constructed for Rheingold, which could descend to 16 ft. Eb. These extremely low notes are not as satisfactory as could be wished, when played forte (V.P. 186). Their effect is better mezzo-forte: Contabass Tuba, FES Bass-Tubas. Contrabass-Tuba in ge RS ee = PTB Tid perminion of Seno, Plnbere-Propltrs) It is mf also that he gives this low F to the Contrabass-Tuba: JW. 14267.97 THE SAXHORNS. Bass Trumpet in C. Tenor-Tuben Eb, Bass-Tuben Bb. Contrabass-Tuba. (By Lind premission of Schott & C2, Pavlishers-Proprietors.) — (Gitlerddmmerung’) ob ae Sie? "AS Fe ppt Foco cresc pie orese. (By Aied permission of Schott & C2, Pubiisbers-Prop Contrabass -Tuba. ae bs 5 .) (Gatterdaimmerung.) The following is the compass of this Contrabass-Tuba in C: Less_sonorous. Yo gta bassa, loc) Excellent register. Remark; Instruments of French construction, whether tuned in Hb or in C, cannot produce the 4 lowest notes (x Y.) 13—To sum up, we have two kinds of deep basses among the brass instruments: the Bass Trombone and the Tuba. The Bass Trombone can descend to Double By: === (Admirable tone) The Tuba to Double G: (Inferior quality.) @ It is rather unwise to write F for the Tuba, for this note practically cannot be produced on the Tuba in C, and a considerable number of performers employ this C Tuba exclusively. (Low F can be produced by a Tuba in BS). Exceptionally, for special effects, Wagner's Contrabass-Tuba (which descends to Eb) may be required in the orchestra, but then we must remember what was said above about the 4 lowest notes of its compass. J. W. 14267,Chapter III. —+— Percussion Instruments. THE KETTLE - DRUMS. (Ital., Timpani. Ger., Pauken. Fr. Timbales.) 4.—"The Kettle-drum consists of a hemispherical shell, over which is stretched a skin. The shell should be of good brass, free from any kind of flaw or dint; the “head” is usually made of ass's skin, but some instrument~makers employ goat-skin, dog - skin, sheep-skin, or calf-skin. The skin must be well curried, homogeneous, without cracks, and of uniform thickness. It is attached to the shell by means of screws; an iron ring, contracting and expanding in obedience to the action of these screws, serves to tighten or loosen the membrane. No precise dimensions can be given for Kettle-drums, but on large Kettle-drums the deep notes are of better quality! (Kastner) This last proposition is self-evident. 2-— Nowadays, all Kettle -drum heads are made of well curried calf-skin, usually se- lected from the animal's back, that being considered the most serviceable part of the hide. As the skin is not of absolutely uniform thickness, the drummer's experience comes to the rescue, sparing the thin parts, and beating out the thick ones. Before a rehearsal, a conscientious drummer may sometimes be seen hammering out parts of the head, very much like a gold - beater. It sometimes takes 4 or 5 years to “mellow” a Kettle-drum. The instrument - maker constructs it, but the performer gives it the finishing touches, which take more time, as we have just seen, than the making of the Drum. A well made Kettle-drum lasts a long time. “On the average, and if no untimely accident happen to it, about as long as the drummer” says Mf Henri Vizentini, the performer on this instrument in the Colonne Orchestra; and accidents are rare in the “orchestra. 3—Kettle-drums are made in three sizes. The largest can at will be made to sound any one of the chromatic degrees compris- ed in the fifth: SS = The smallest size gives the following notes: = SS Ss, and the medium-sized ones play either in the fifth 2==———==s= or in the fifth according to the custom of the various countries. J. W. 14267.THE KETTLE- DRUMS. 99 For the sake of completeness, we will also mention a little Kettle-drum with this compass ===, to be found in museums, but hardly ever used in practice, the two highest degrees, FH and G, being of poor quality. Even Fh is not sonorous, and al- though Beethoven uses it he never fails to contrast it with the F an octave lower, its weakness being atoned for by the full and rich quality of the low F: (8th Symphony.) = (9th Symphony.) 4: So, it is not advisable to go beyond either high F or low F, £ 2=—=—=—= js sometimes required for a special effect, but has no tonal value except in a pianissi- mo; its tone suggests the idea of a cracked Bass Drum. 1 am fully aware that Berlioz wrote the high Fd, and Wagner the low E, but only exceptionally, and if you feel inclined to borrow anything from them, it is better to ask them for something else. Besides, there is another means of producing a roll deeper than that of the Kettle- drum: it consists in using a Bass Drum played with Kettle- drum sticks. 5i—In France, the old system has been retained; the membrane is tightened and loos- ened by means of screws, varying in number from 9 to 11 for a large Kettle - drum, and from 7 to 9 for a small one. Taking into account the inequalities of the skin with which he is familiar, the drummer adjusts the several screws accordingly; other- wise there is some risk of the head cracking. Besides, quality and correct intonation depend on well-balanced tension. The length of time required to change the tuning of the Drums depends on the inter- val, on the number of turns to be given to the screws. The head is sufficiently strong to bear tightening to the extent of a fifth, but it would be very unskilful on the part of the composer to require such skips. The performer requires a relatively fong time to change the pitch of a Drum by more than a major third, and if the great masters’ works be examined, it will be seen that they carefully avoid exceeding this limit. I take five scores at random: Liszt: Festklénge...4 Kettlo-drams tuned in: G, A, Bb, C. Changing to: Ff, A, Bb, BY. (Maximum skip: a semitone.) — Hungaria..,. 3 Kettle-drums tuned in: A, Bb, D. Changing to: Ff, Bk, Dt. Then to: Bb, Bs, DE. And finally to: A, C, Dh. (Maximum skip: @ major third.) 2 Kettle-drums tuned in: A, D Changing to: A, CF. Then to: A, Bh And finally to. A, D. (Maximum skip: @ minor third.) JW. 14267,100 TUK KETTLE- DRUMS. Berlioz; Marche Nocturne. . 2 Kettle-drums tuned in: G, C. (WEnfance du Christ.) Changing to: G, Bh. (Skip of a second.) — Fantaisie sur la “Tempéte??.2 Kettle-drums tuned in: Ab,C. (Letio) Changing to: AbD. ‘Then to: 4, And finally to: C, F. (Maximum skip: a fourth, but a gradual one,by seconds.) About one bar of quadruple time, in moderate tempo, is required to raise or lower the pitch of a Drum by one tone. Naturally, more time is required for a third, a fourth, a fifth, if indeed such a skip be risked. When only small intervals are in question, drummers manage to tune without consulting the ear; they know when to give a quarter, a half, three-quarters, or a whole turn to the screws. In fact, it is only thus that they can tune in a forte, amid the din of a tutti. However, when wide skips are called for, they no longer trust to their manual exper- ience; they may be seen gently touching the skin with a drum-stick,endeavoring to judge whether the instrument is in tune, 6—In Germany, Russia, and Italy, this system has been discarded, and mechanically tuned Kettle-drums exclusively adopted. Two kinds are made: (1) Drums mounted on pivots, the head being tightened or lovs- ened according as the instrument is turned to the right or to the left: (2) Drums with levers acting upon a number of notches corresponding to the series of semitones, This latter kind is in more general use. The great advantage of mechanical tuning lies in its instantaneousness. In moderate tempo, figures such as the following can be executed on a single Drum. = p= (The sudden motion of the lever coincides with the stroke of the stick, so as to avoid blurring:) All moderato. Pes y Curious glissando effects can be obtained by handling the lever slowly, very much like the vialinist's finger on a string: Andante, = 57 Sj The Paris Opéra had adopted these Kettle-drums, but has just discarded them again, alleging that their intonation is inaccurate. The skins contract or distend according to the temperature and the dampness or dryness of the air, so they say, and they com- plain that they have not sufficiently direct control over the tuning of the Drum. Sub judice lis est! JW. 14267.THE KETTLE- DRUMS. 104 7—As for composers, théy need not take sides in the quarrel, but. write as they think fit, without any other preoccupation than that of confining the instrument to its true of- fice. What do we require of the Kettle-drum? A vibration, a sound dying away like a harp-string’s. To abruptly cut short or sud- denly damp this sound is antagonistic to the nature of the instrument. Is it really the Drum's function to run up and down rapid scales? With three Drums all combinations are possible. As each Drum can be easily tuned in 4 successive semitones, all the degrees of the chromatic scale can be obtained, without involving a skip greater than a minor third. : It frequently happens that, at a first rehearsal, the performer is embarrassed by the composer having neglected to indicate the changes of key beforehand; it will be the drummer's business to study and arrange the proper changes for the next rehearsal. Ii such a case | think the composer is somewhat to blame. It happens sometimes, in the course of a piece, that a single performer is absolutely unable to make the necessary change in the tuning, Suppose his Drums are tuned as. follows: and then that he needs to finish off on Bb, as follows: Vivo, 2 Orchestra. Kettle- Drum It he is naive, he will tell his troubles to the conductor, who will direct him to ask his neighbors for assistance. If, on the contrary, he is a bright man, he will, of his ‘own accord, request one of his companions in the orchestra, while he himself is playing the ©, to give two of his screws the half-turn necessary to raise the A Drum by a semitone, Nowadays, anything can be written, technical difficulties constantly diminishing, but no- thing ought to be written which is not in keeping with the nature of the instrument. The Sticks. — There are two kinds: Sticks with skin knobs, for ordinary use forte or piano, and sticks with sponge knobs, for particulary soft effects. Formerly, wooden-headed sticks were sometimes used, but the quality of tone produced is very hard and has very little timbre, recalling that of the Side Drum, The drummer avoids playing on the extreme edge of the head, as this only produces a nasal, dry tone, without vibrating power. He also carefully avoids the centre of the head, and prefers playing mid-way between edge and centre, JW, 14267,102 THE KETTLE- DRUMS. Mode of writing. 9—If any definite duration of sound is required, the Drum part must be as carefully written as that of any other instrument. Beethoven, fearing the vibration ot the E would last beyond the attack of the B&, in the beginning of the overture to Fidelio, separates the two notes by a rest +: Kettle-drums. Orchestra. In the course of the work, it will be observed, Beethoven frequently marks the accent- ed beat of a bar by means of a crotchet, when, not having any special intention, he might just as well have written minims; it is a mere question of habi Allegro. Kettle-drums, Orchestra, (Quartet.) In such cases, Mozart usually writes: 10—When a roll is required, the great masters make use of two kinds of notation. — Some write the roll like a shake A others like the tremolo of the Strings e and the same master frequently uses both systems in succession. Remark: It is hardly necessary to add that with the Y system it becomes indispensable to specify time-values sufficiently rapid to produce a roll. Moderato. Adagio. a g Z The X system seem preferable, precisely on account of its uniformity. JW, 14267.THE KETTLE-DRUMS. . 108 11-—When a roll lasts through two or more bars, the notes must be tied; otherwise, the performer may think the composer intends the first beat of each bar to be marked: (Correct mode of writing.) (Inaccurate mode of writing.) It is precisely in such cases that the X system seems preferable, for is it not absurd to tie notes which are written as articulated notes? e e e Likewise, at the end of a roll, it is necessary to specify whether the last note is to be articulated, or whether it is simply intended as the unnoticed dying-away of the tre- molo. Allegro. gp Allegro. (Inaccurate mode of writing (Clear notation.) if the final D is to be artic ulated.) — {= (Inaccurate mode of writing (Clear notation.) if the final D is not to be articulated.) 12—It is hardly necessary to recall the effect of swelling and diminishing the tone in a roll: oe = =t SS or to enlarge upon the propriety of giving accurate directions to the drummer if this effect is to be emphasized: tr PP Need we add that it is quite correct to end a roll without having reached an accented beat, as may be seen from the last example? However, it is perhaps not superfluous to mention that a crescendo roll reaches its Sortissimo terminus with the same energy and dash, whether executed on a single Drum throughout, or whether the Drum changes. For instance, the crescendo D ————— E will reach its culminating point with the same continuity of swell as the crescendo D—————— D; the change from one Drum to the other being so rapid that not even the most practised ear could detect it: be be = = 2S SS ew Sf Here is a curious crescendo coming to a climax + before the. accented beat, singulary JW, 14267.104 THE KETTLE- DRUMS. dramatic in its energy: Kettle-drums.| Orchestra. (Gernsheim, 3° Symphony.) We must also mention the possibility of continuing a roll on the Drums by a tremolo on the Double-basses; the two qualities of tone follow each other without the least jar- ring: 4 Kettle-drums. Double-bass. PP Here is a characteristic rhythm from Les Erynnies: md. : Kettle-drums. P Moderato. On Orchestra. |f ® 2. Ka - Ke Ne (By kind perminaion of Hougel et C8, Baiteurs- Pro (Massenet.) Here are some other formula in current use: Allegro. e PE. —————_—=s Andante. And: pa “F 3 —=y' 13: From the harmonic point of view, the Kettle -drum connot be counted on. What can be expected of an instrument that never affords more than 2 or 3 notes to choose from? Can good “part-writing” be expected in the case of the Drum? Let us be content with the best obtainable coincidences of the Drum notes with the notes of the harmony, introducing them freely into the polyphonic weft, without ever los- ing sight of the practical means of execution. The Drum by itself can only serve as a true bass in cases where no tonal doubt is possible; see the following example, in which the true bass is sounded in the first bar by the orchestra, its effect still lingering in the ear when the Kettle-drum en- ters: JW 14267,THE KETTLE-DRUMS. 105 Allegro. Kettle drums P35 (Eb & Bb) FE Orchestra. Here the tonal impression is quite pure and clear, But if in the first bar, the E> chord were replaced by the chord of Bb (say), the case would be wholly different; confusion and uncertainty would arise. 14— The Kettle-drum has so little harmonic significance that it may sometimes be treated as a neutral element in the orchestra, notes not coinciding with the harmony being given to it, as is done in the case of the Triangle, the Side Drum, or the Cymbals. Verdi and Massenet have sometimes treated it thus, wishing to avoid a sud- den change in the tuning of the Drums, especially when the new note would be of use for a couple of bars only. However, this licence is only excusable in a forte, when the Drum, drowned by the din of the whole orchestra, retains its rhythmic value only. It is never done in a piano, where it would be quite inadmissible. 15-~ There is no reason why two Drums should not be struck together: Kettle-drums. ‘A roll for two notes attacked simultaneously requires two drummers, of course. 16—It will hardly be necessary to point out that the deepest notes are always the heaviest, their tength of vibration being in proportion to their depth. With a light rhythm, it would not be advisable to write F, Ff, G, as these notes have a tendency to “boom”: The notes of the medium, on the other hand, have a very pleasing tone, resembling the pizsicato of the Cello. (D is exquisite). Finally, we will point out that C is an equally good note on either the small or the large Kettle- drum. Large Drum: p= Small Drum: 3 S.W, 14267.106 THE SIDE DRUM. (Ital., Tamburo piccolo. Ger., Kleine Trommel. ¥r., Tambour.) 4 We have seen that the head of Kettle-drums is made of calf-skin; in the case of the Side Drum sheepskin is used. The sticks are of wood. As no definite pitch can be assigned to the tone of the Side Drum, it would be more correct to call it noise. Whether the piece be in Bo, in Ab, or in Fe is quite im- material, the Side Drum being suited to all keys, because it has no key of its own and its effects depend solely on rhythm. Remak: The 2 or 3 examples that could be quoted of the tuning of the Side Drum need not detain us, as they are not sufficiently conclusive. Various Strokes. 2—The single stroke of one stick is rarely used: but, in its stead, the double-stroke, produced by the almost simultaneous attack of the two sticks on the membrane, is usually employed: Written: 63S Soundipg: ee as is also the “coup de charge!’ differing from the above by the accentuation of the first short note Rolls. 3—Rolls are called: ra. They consist of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 strokes, and so on: 3 There is also the continuous roll, similar to the Kettle-drum roll; it is written like a shake, or like the tremolo of the Strings: on = 2 care being taken, as in the case of the Kettle-drum (P.102,§10), to write time- values sufficiently rapid to produce a true roll: Vi a Moderato. Adagio, 3 Z 5 3 JW. 44267,THE SIDE DRUM. 107 Rhythmic Combinations. 4-—Some of the rolls in use in the French army are given below: they pretty well ies of the instrument: summarize all the capabi Notation. 5—The Side Drum is usually written in the G clef, its clear acute timbre evoking the idea of high notes. However, in the majority of scores published nowadays, a single line without any clef is given to the Side Drum, as this arrangement economizes space. The same practice prevails as regards Cymbals, Bass Drum, Triangle, Castanets, all of them being instruments without definite pitch. Use of the Side Drum in the orchestra. 6—1 do not think it has ever been employed in a symphony. On the other hand, it is frequently used for dramatic purposes. “Meyerbeer” says Gevaert, “has known how to derive a peculiar and terrible effect from the association of the Side Drum with the Kettle-drums, for the famous crescendo roll of the Bénédiction des Poignards (in the Huguenots)? These are, in fact, Berlior's own words, expressing his admiration for Meyerbeer’s de- vice, then quite novel. Since his time, it has been so often used that it seems super- fluous to quote examples. Everyone can call them to mind. At random, | quote this theme of the “Marche de Turenne!” which Bizet has turned to account in L?Arlésienne: Allegro. — pA Horns & ‘Wood-wind | =! Pi Side-Drum, Violins. Basses.108 THE SIDE DRUM. And this other delicate yet incisive effect, from the Scenes Pittoresques: (42408) Sol SP hea cole Orchestra. [| LP, (sep Witinns, Linted, Fabiishere-Propritor.) (Massenet, Féte Boheme) Muffled Drums. 7.— They may be heard at military funerals. If the head of the Drum be covered with a cloth, a very striking and mournful quality of tone is obtained, the vibrations of the parchment being more or less damped and, so to speak, driven back into the in- terior of the Drum. Nothing can be more dismal than a long roll, gradually swelling and diminishing, on a muffled Drum: Sometimes the indication: sans timbre is met with; the effect required is obtained either by loosening the snares, or by muffling as described above; the choice of the means of execution is usually left to the performer. The following passage illustrates the use of the muffled Side Drum: Maestoso. <> a2. Clarinets = inh. FE Horn in FL Trombones « Tuba, Kettle Drums, Side Drum. Hass Drum (Mackenzie, Solemn March from the “Story of Sayid”) (By kind permission of Novello & C2, USL, Publishers-Propileters.) THE TENOR DRUM. (WIRBELTROMMEL, ROLLTROMMEL, RUHRTROMMEL,) 8.— The Tenor Drum is longer than the Side Drum, and is made of wood, instead of brass. Its sound is duller, and might be that of a small-sized Bass Drum. \t serves the same purposes and has the same mechanism as the Side Drum. Gluck, in Iphigénie en Tauride (Chorus of the Scythians), and Wagner, in Die Walkiire and in Parsifal, have made use of the Tenor Drum. JW. 44267.109 THE TAMBOURINE. (Ital, Tamburino, Ger., Schellentrommel, Fr. Tambour de Basque.) There are three ways of using it: (1) By striking the parchment with the back of the hand: ‘Tambourine. Carmen. PORT ET Ber Bt Bytes ® cain, omen, 12) (cHoudens, Bastear - Proprictatte.) Orchestra. (2) By shaking the instrument, in order to call into play the ‘jingles? i. e. the small metal plates which are, so to speak, embedded in its hoop; a metallic rustle rather than a roll is thus obtained: Tambourine. Orchestra. (Caoudens, Easter - Propritaie.) (Carmen, p. 183.) As in the case of the Kettle-drum and Military Drum, this rustle is written either like a shake, or like a tremolo for the Strings: ir the Note, as before, that when the latter mode of writing is employed, time-values suffic- iently rapid to ensure continuity of sound must be indicated (P. 106, §3). (3) By gliding the thumb over the parchment, a temporary roll can be produced, in which the sound of the jingles predominates. This, however, requires some skill. tara bp dawn ty Tbe de dy dade BT bade da deg de =—The clef has no more value in the notation of the Tambourine than in that of the Military Drum, the Triangle, etc. A single line is usually employed, as in the above ex- ample. THE TABOR. (Fr., Tambourin.) 1—This is a very long drum, without fimbre, used in Provence. The tabor - player blows into a three-hole pipe, or Galoudet, which he holds in his right hand, while with his left he beats time with a single stick: Allegro. Piceolo, ‘Tabor, (Choudens, Editeer - Propridtaire.) (Bizet, L’Arléstenne.) J.W, 14267,110 THE TRIANGLE. (ital, Triangolo. Gee, Triangel. Fe, Triangle) 1—The Triangle may be written either on a single line, or in the G clef. It is suitable for all kinds of rhythmic combinations, single, double, triple strokes, etc. Allegro. a The tremolo is written as for the’ Drums; —— 2—The single stroke sometimes seems too simple, and is replaced by a group of 2, 3, 4, or 5 notes, the last alone have any appreciable time value. 1 1 aM Vv 1. The short note preceding the true note gives it more sprightliness. IL. This group of 3 notes is excellent, the first and third being struck in the same direction, from right to left. III. This group of 4 notes is not so natural, the first and last being struck in con- trary directions. IV. Groups of 5 notes, as well all odd-numbered groups ‘7, 9, etc.), are very good, for reason given above (See IL). 3—I a pianissimo is wanted, it is the top of the Triangle that must be touched, where the rod has only an inch or so of space to move backwards and forwards in. As the performer is likely to know his business, it is needless to note this in the score, Kemark: 1 think it may be as well to call attention to the fact that some Triangles produce double sound; they may be said to be out of tune; the stroke of the rod ought always to produce a single sound 4z Always effective, the Triangle is absolutely indispensable in the orchestra, for to it alone is sometimes entrusted the duty of marking the rhythm of the piece. It can be heard through the wholé of the polyphonic mass, even when struck pianissimo. (d= 4s) Triangle. BP Tempo di Minuetto. Orchestra. re _e (Berlioz, Damnation de Faust.) JW, 44267.THE TRIANGLE. ui (ds 112) wae st st Piccolo. Flutes. Triangle. Violins, Violas, = = Flutes. Triangle. Violins. Violas. Violoncellos. (Schumann, 18f Symphony.) Horns in E. Triangle. Violins. Violas Violoncellos. Double - basses. (leteph Willams, Limited, Pablishers-Proprietors) (Paladilhe, Ouverture de Susanne) 3. W, 44267,aa THE TRIANGLE. Here is a very delicate effect of the Triangle tremolo, with pranissimo holding-notes for the Strings. Triangle. (Sordini) Violins. (Sordini) _ Div. Pod PP (Grieg, A (ay kind permission of ©.P, Peters, Fat Violas. (Boraini) The Bacchanal of Tannhduser, the Introduction and March of the Corporations in Meistersinger (from P. 453 onwards), the Tetralogy, etc. should be studied from this point of view. In these scores, it will be observed that a stroke or tremolo on the Triangle stands out, even upon the most noisy orchestral background. At the climax of a crescendo, when the orchestra would seem to have reached its maximum intensity, it suffices to add the Triangle, in order to convert red-heat into white heat. THE CASTANETS. (Ital., Castagnette. Fr., Castagnettes. Ger. Kastagnetten. Span., Castafuelas.) 1 They are made of wood or of iron, and are used in pairs, one pair being held in each hand. Like the Triangle and Drum, they can execute any rhythmic combina- tions imaginable. For instance, they can mark the accented beat like a Triangle— a charming and [it- tle used effect: (dz2) Castanets. Orchestra. ermision of A,Daraad ot Pls, Péstears-Propridtairen) (Saint-Saius, La Lyre ef la Harpe) J. W, 14267,THE CASTANETS. 113 Usually, this instrument, so characteristic of popular Spanish music, is confined to cer- tain formule current tras Jos montes, which are not very varied, as may be seen: (= 76) ‘Treble, Castanets. Bass. (d= 160) Treble. Castanets. Bass. Allegretto Treble. Castancts. Bass. 2—The Castanets are usually written on a single line, without any clef. The 2nd Scene of the 3° Act of Samson et Dalila should be consulted. Note, beneath the veil of this persisting rhythm for the Castanets (both wooden and iron ones) Allegro. ete, the skilful use of the percussion instruments alternating with and replacing each other, then drawing closer, and finally uniting to produce the maximum outburst of strength. THE CYMBALS. (Ital, Piatt?, Ger., Becken.) 1 They may be played either together or separately. They may be violently clashed one against the other, or one of them may be light- ly struck with a drum-stick. The sound may either be damped, or it may be allowed to vibrate. In the former case, the Cymbals are written as follows: ef in the latter case, thus: — 6 Sf P J. W. 14267.14 THE CYMBALS. Even if the bind only leads to a rest, it nevertheless retains its value as a bind, i.e. the vibrations must not be stopped. To make surer, the two preceding examples may al- so be written: i 2—There are two ways of producing a roll, or tremolo, with the Cymbals: (1) In a forte passage, they may be clashed against each other, the performer's wrist serving as an axis for the right to left motion; these shocks, as rapid as possible, of the two brass discs produce an uneven, but very violent and sonorous metallic jingle; (2) in piano passages, or for a crescendo, one of the two Cymbals may be sus~ pended by its strap, and a perfectly even and continuous roll performed on it by means of drumsticks; from piano to forte, the sound swells with great regularity— and vice versa. As an example of the first kind of roll, the tutti passage which announces the per- oration of the Tannhéduser Overture may be mentionéd: eight bars fortissimo for the Cymbals: + tr te Allegro. == It and as a specimen of the other kind: 4 Vivo. Cymbal Orchestra, (By kind permission of A. Durand ot Pils, Balteurs~ sires.) (Saint-Saéns.) Curious forte effects, crescendo rolls, etc, are to be found in Les Perses (Xavier Leroux). See also L’Apprenti Sorcier (P. Dukas). 3 When the Cymbals and Bass Drum are used together, this latter instrument must be thrown somewhat into the background, and the Cymbals alone must stand out conspicuously in the foreground, because it is to them that brilliancy is due. Remark: If, perchance, the composer wished to produce the contrary effect, he would need to-expressly indicate it. In the Sanctus of his Requiem, Herlioz writes the Cymbals and Bass Drum on two separate lines, and the traditional manner of performance, considering the character of the piece, is to bring the Bass Drum rather more to the front than the Cymbals. (The Bass Drum and Cymbals strokes” (says Berlioz in a note) “should be as weak a8 poss- ible, the Cymbals being gently clashed against each other in the usual manner, and the in- Strument being allowed to vibrate?” See in the Overture, Entr’actes, and Stage music to Phédre, the curious effects that Massenet obtains from the Bass Drum in the first piece, then from the Cymbals in the Sacrifice scene, and finally from the two combined in the last piece. In the Overture, in the Imploration to Neptune, the Bass Drum always stands a- lone. J.W, 44267.THE CYMBALS. 115 4=—Every one has noticed the charming effect of a Cymbal gently struck with a sponge-tipped drumstick, so as to equal or even surpass the pianissimo of the Tri- angle. Nothing could color a rhythm more delightfully; with each stroke a cloud of gold-dust seems to rise up out of the orchestra: Andantino, Poco rit. reg. . (E Cymbal. Flute. (solo) = J cresc. Violins. Viola. Violoncelto. Double - bass. a Tempo A PP St mf" mf mi of ” (Gilisnlls, aitor-Fropritwire) — (Lalo.) The two Cymbal strokes which are indicated in the above example are not to be found in the Suite from Namouna (P. 74); it was Vaucorbeil who very ingeniously added them during the rehearsals of Lalo’s posthumous work at the Paris Opera-house. So characteristic, so unexpectedly picturesque was this metallic quiver, upon the reappearance of the theme, that it still rings in my ear, despite the many years which have since elapsed. J.W, 14267.116 THE CYMBALS. We now give another example of the skilful use of a Cymbal struck piano in the midst of the Strings: Allegretto. a2. Clar. in Bb. mf? Bassoon. mf cantando. Horn in Bo. Cymbal. Violas. Violonceltos. nf Cantando, — Double -basses. mf Pina. ite * arco. (By kind permission of Heugel et Cle, Béiteurs-Proprictatres.) (Th. Dubois, Suite miniature.) JW, 14267,THE CYMBALS. a7 ANCIENT CYMBALS. 5:— They are made after the model of those discovered at Pompeii, and preserved in the Museum of Naples, along with instruments of all kinds employed in the time of the Casars: Flutes, Organs, Pandean Pipes, Cithara, etc. They are much smaller than our Cymbals, varying from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and have a more silvery and acute timbre. Since their adoption by Berlioz in Roméo and in Les Troyens, Gounod, St Saéns, and many others have employed them. The composer writes for them as for ordinary Cymbals, avoiding rolls and tremolos, which would be difficult of production on such a small surface. However, such rolls are not impossible, and perhaps some special effect will some day be produced by their means, On the stage, dancers and figurantes frequently keep step with the assistance of Ancient Cymbals held in the hand, THE BASS DRUM. (Ital, Gran Cassa. Ger, Grosse Trommel. Fr., Grosse Caisse) This is another instrument without precise intonation, like the Military Drum, Tri- angle, Castanets, etc. (Tuning the Bass Drum has sometimes been attempted, but the result obtained is not worth the trouble that it involves). What is required of the Bass Drum is a full and rather heavy quality of tone. “The Bass Drum ought to be large: the rods or braces which stretch the parch- ment ought to act equally upon the whole circumference’ (Pares, Treatise on In- strumention for Military Bands). The Bass Drum is played by means of a large drumstick provided either with a sin- gle felt or cork knob (mailloche simple), or with a double knob, one at each end of the stick (matlloche double). With the matlloche held by the middle of its handle, a roll resembling distant thunder may be produced. The Bass Drum can like- wise imitate cannon (Berlioz, Marche Hongroise). We have already said (P. 99, §4) that, in order to obtain a roll deeper than that. of the Kettle-drums, the Bass Drum might be employed, the player making use of Ket- tle-drum sticks for this purpose. The roll thus produced is very effective, but has rarely been used. We give one example: JW. 14267.118 THE BASS- DRUM. Allegro. (d 2138) a2. ‘Trumpets in C. Pris rythmé. ast @ and Trombones. acd Bass Drum. 4st Violins. 2nd Violins Violas. Violoncellos. jusser, Hercule au Jardin des Hespérides.) (By kind permission of Heary Lemoine et Clt, Editeurs-Proplitaies,) Who has not been moved by the pianissimo attack of the united Bass Drum and Cym- bals, accentuating a phrase, to which it lends mysterious solemnity and impressive gran- deur? Bassoons. Horns in E. Kettle-drums. Bass Drum & Cymbals. Marguerite, Gest Ia [fit-le dun | rol Basses. Z — S Piaz. (Gounod, Faust.) The following bars illustrate a very skilful arrangement of the percussion instruments, with a view to produce an overpowering fortissimo J. W. 14267,THE BASS- DRUM. 119 ee ee eee 3 Flutes mM 4 Oboe. 4 Cor Anglais. Lit B Clarinets in A ™ 2 Bassoons. LM ink 4 Moras MLA in F 2 Trumpets in E 2 Trombones. Bass Trombone & Tuba. Kettle-drum. ‘Triangle. Tambourin. Side Drum. Cymbals. Bass Drum, Gong. Violins. Violas. joloncellos. Double - basses, JW, 14267,120 __ THE Bass UM. ; < te (Balakirew, Thamar.) JW. 44267.121 THE GONG. (ital, Tam-tam. Ger, Tam-tam. Fr, Tam-tam.) The Gong is terrifying when struck forte, and threatening even when struck piano. The composer must beware of its long-sustained vibrations. Although the Gong is not able to give a tone of definite pitch, and is consequently adapted for use in any key, yet it seems to borrow the tonality of the chord in which it is struck, so that ‘any change of harmony or any modulation must be avoided as long as the Gong continues to vibrate, Gong Orchestra, The Gong seems to be quite im tune in the first bar (X) of the above example,but appears to suddenly lose its éruch of intonation when the harmony changes in the second bar (YZ), In such a case, it is necessary to damp its vibrations at the end of the first bar; otherwise, it will seem, during the second bar, to hold the preceding chord, like a Pianoforte without dampers. Different Altitudes of Percussion Instruments of Indeterminate Pitch and Long Vibration. Let us suppose we are required to depict the Titans being hurled down from Heaven, and that we need to give the impression of violent shocks in quick succession. If three such shocks at different sonorous altitudes might suffice to indicate the cataclysm, { think the percussion instruments would need to be disposed as follows: Presto. Cymbals. tor Gog, Bass-Drum. $i e and we should get the very distinct impression of two successive skips of a fifteenth each: Preste, So we have, in the high register: the Cymbals, in the medium register: the Gong, and in the lowest register: the Bass Drum. JW, 44267,122 Exceptional Percussion Instruments. 1. The Glockenspiel. 2. The Celesta. 3. The Xylophone. A Bells. THE GLOCKENSPIEL. 4 This instrument consists of a number of small steel bars, which are struck by means of little hammers; the pitch of these bars is in direct proportion to their thick- ness, and in inverse ratio to the square of their length. Hf, for instance, it were desired to obtain the chromatic scale by means of bars all of equal length, “it would only be necessary to increase the thickness of each successive bar to an extent equivalent to the difference between each of the semitones.’ (Maillon). The compass of the Glockenspiel keyboard is two octaves and a tone: from ’ sounding $= - (The actual sounds are two octaves above the written notes.) The little keyboard of the Glockenspiel is similar to that of the Pianoforte, and the instrument may be treated in much the same manner as the Piano, provided time is allowed for the somewhat long vibrations to travel. Wagner, in the finale of Die Walkiire, Meyerbeer, in L’Africaine, Delibes, in Lak- mé, Massenet, in La Vierge, etc. have employed the Glockenspiel. The best notes of the instrument are, of course, those of the medium register, the lowest notes having a tendency to sound the fifth above, instead of the fundamental tone, which loses power the lower the note in the scale. | believe Handel was the first composer to make use of the Glockenspiel, in Saw/, After him Mozart employed it in Zauberfléte: goo Fy Fit) eR = Sounding: JW 14267,123 THE CELESTA. 2—This is an instrument with a keyboard, like the Glockenspiel, the bars being re- placed by tuning-forks. Their tone is much weaker than that of the steel bars, but, on the other hand, infinitely more ethereal and poetical. Mustel, the inventor of the in- strument, was fully justified in giving it the name of Celesta. Hts compass is four octaves: from F= FS vo % sounding The Celesta may be treated like the Piano, or rather like 4 ft. and 24t, organ-stops, which it somewhat resembles. Its vibrations can be sustained almost like those of a wind instrument, and, at the same time, the crystalline percussion of the attack throws a delightful veil of mystery over the tone of the Celesta. On P72 1 gave an illustration from Louise, in which the Gelesta is employed. 1 had already made use of it, at the Opéra, in the Korrigane. The Celesta will come ever more into vogue. THE XYLOPHONE. (Ger, Holzharmonika.) 3:—This is an instrument consisting of a series of wooden bars, or rollers, of varying length, disposed like organ-pipes, which are struck by means of two little wooden mal- lets. Compass: three octaves: Saint-Saéns has used it in the Danse Macabre, and Gevaert remarks that the em- inent composer writes the notes an octave below their true pitch: Allegro. Sounding: ae JW. 14267,124 BELLS. 4—Bells are made in all keys. The metal of which they are composed is an alloy of tin and copper. As for their dimensions, their height should be to their greatest diameter as 12 to 15. To give an idea of the practical difficulty of employing them in the orchestra, it will suffice to say that the weight of a bell sounding Tenor C 2=s=== is over 22 tons, that the great bell of Notre-Dame (Paris) weighs 18 tons, and the Kremlin bell more than 195 tons. So, bells may be classed with church Organs in the category of musical instruments difficult to. manipulate, When writing for bells, care must be taken to indicate whether deep or acute sounds are required. . Gevaert remarks that in theatres the actual pitch is rarely lower than G im alt He goes on to say that the two large bells used at the Paris Opera-house, for the tocsin of St Bartholomew's Day, in the 4th act of Les Huguenots, have always been considered as rarities: yet they only sound the upper octave of the notes written ty the composer =~ Large bells not being very practical, “attempts have been made to replace them by hemispherical alarum-bells cast in bronze; their relatively thin sides allow of attain- jing much deeper notes with a far smaller weight of metal.” These are the bells to be heard, arranged as follows, at the end of the 1st act of Parsifal: Bells (on the Stage) Do they satisfy all desiderata? Hardly; something better will surely be found. Besides, | once heard at Moscow a much more successful “bell-effect” much deeper and truer, It was obtained simply by means of a deep piano-string stretched in a deal case, a system which has long been in use for some kinds of clocks. Bells are usually written in the F clef.125 Chapter IV. —+— THE SAXOPHONES. 1—This family of instruments, more used in French military bands than in orchestras, was invented by Sax. The tone is produced by means of a reed fitted into a mouthpiece similar to that of the Clarinet; the air-column is conical, and the tube is made of metal. Of all wind instruments the Saxophones are perhaps the most expressive; like the Oboe they can swell and diminish their tone without ever losing their timbre, which al- ways remains rich and full (bearing some analogy to the tone of the Cello, the Cor Anglais, and the Clarinet). The mechanism and fingering are much the same as for the Oboe. The following are the four members of which the family is officially composed: Soprano Saxophone in B> Alto nin Eb Tenor ” in Bb Barytone =o» in Eb They all have about the same compass as the Oboe, including the low Bo; however, the Soprano and Barytone stop at E> in the highest register, whereas the Alto and Tenor can rise to F. 2--The Soprano and Tenor cannot descend very easily, so it is better to avoid writ- ing the very low notes for them; the Alto and Barytone, on the contrary, are excellent in their lowest register. As for the Bass Saxophone, it is not used in practice, on account of its great weight; it is usually replaced by the Sarrusophone, which can skip down with the most grace- ful ease to the extreme depths of the orchestra. Proceeding by analogy of tone-color and of pitch, the following comparison may be established: Soprano Saxophone — 8 ft. stop = Oboe, Clarinet. Alto 212 fe» Tenor » A16f ow = Barytone oo» = 24 ft. » = Bass Clarinet. The Saxophones are written in the G clef, whatever their actual pitch may be, # ® Avoid attacking pianissimo the notes comprised In tho lowest sixth: applies equally to all the members of the Saxophone family. j this restriction JW. 14267.126 THE SAXOPHONES. SOPRANO SAXOPHONE in Bb. 3 Compass: Its office in military bands is to reinforce the Clarinets, or to replace them in case of need. It is a rather shrill-toned instrument, and is not used in the orchestra, ALTO SAXOPHONE in Eb. 4- ae Compass: > SS sounding: === = by It is the best of the family, the instrument to be heard in Hamlet, L’Arlésienne, Hérodiade, Werther, etc. lis tone is even, and it can rise easily, at the same time possessing good bass notes. It is powerful enough to be a match for 4 or 5 Clarinets. Remark: Hy saving that it can rise easily, i do not mean that the highest notes are as prac ticable as the notes of the medium regi ‘The 5 or 6 highest notes can only be written for tirtuosi. They naturally become thinner and thinner, TT Saxophone Bb: sounding: S (Choudens, Editeur - Proprictaire) (G. Bizet, Ariéstenne) “It is to the Alto Saxophone that florid figures, quick scale passages, shakes and ar- peggios are given in military bands! (Pares), ‘Avoid, however, the following shakes: TENOR SAXOPHONE in Bb. 5 It is an octave below the Soprano, nearly in unison with the Alto Clarinet, a 5S sounding: FESS Z Compass: ba Its timbre is as full, as even, and in every respect as satisfactory as that of the Alto, Like the Alto, the Tenor Saxophone is capable of great execution, and well a- dapted for the execution of bravura passages, chromatic figures, etc. It is better to avoid giving it the 4 or 5 highest notes to play. JW. 44267.THE SAXOPHONES. 127 BARYTONE SAXOPHONE in E). sone: FSS This instrument is heavy to carry; in military bands it plays much the same part as the Bass Clarinet in the orchestra. Its mechanism is not quite so simple as that of the Saxophones of higher pitch. Compass: ba 7— Such, then, is the official family of Saxophones. There is another group, but it is neglected, and 1 only mention it for the sake of completeness. It consists of the following varieties: Sopranino Saxophone in F Soprano nin C Alto » in F Tenor nin C Barytone » in F As for the Bass Saxophone in C, it is not used any more than the Bass Saxophone in Bb, which, as we have just seen (§2), on account of its great weight, is replaced by the Sarrusophone. 8—All the shakes and tremolos possible on the Oboe can be performed on the Sax- ophone, for, as | have already said, the two instruments have the same mechanism. “All figures possible on the Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon are equally suitable for the Saxophones, but legato passages suit them best? (Gevaert). The quartet of the Saxophones produces the illusion of the Organ. However, breathing must not be lost sight of, and the composer, when writing holding- notes and long /egato passages, must be careful not to’ exhaust the players. ‘A note in the medium register cannot be held for more than 10 bars, in moderate quadruple time. Upon comparing the Clarinet with the Saxophones, it will be found that each instrument can sustain a note for about 40 seconds. However, this is a maximum which can only be expected in the case of a soloist playing piano. 9-—What may be the future destiny of the Saxophones in the orchestra? Will the whole family be some day admitted, or will only individual members be invited, as has been done so far? Time will show. If 1 may venture to express an opinion, | confess the tone of the instrument seems to me rather loud and out proportion with that of its neighbors, excepting, however, the example by Bizet, quoted above, which is perfectly pleasing. But since the Saxophone here seems to harmonize so well with the surrounding instruments, if. elsewhere it seems out of place, it must be because it is then seen at a disadvantage, and is consequently not to be criticized. All means are good, provided they are properly used, each in its own time and place. JW. 14267.128 THE HARP. (Ital., Arpa. Ger., Harfe. Fr, Harpe.) 4:—The following figure shows the compass of the Harp, which comprises 47 diatonic de- This diatonic scale becomes chromatic by means of seven pedals which act on all the octaves at once. According as a pedal is hitched into one or other of two notches, the pitch of the string is raised by a semitone or by two semitones. Example: One and the same string: = The various octaves of one and the same string: ¥ 2:-When the pedals are not used, the scale naturally produced is that of Cb, as shown above. For the scale of Cz the seven pedals are hitched into one set of notches,and for the scale of C¥ into the other set. Natural Scale: Raised by a semitone: Raised by 2 semitones: ch cy ce Db DE DE Eb Es Ef Fb Fi Ft 6 Ge ce hb Ag Aa Bb Bs BE At first sight, it would seem as if this simultaneous action of the pedals throughout the various octaves were a serious defect, such passages as the following appearing to be impossible: + JW. 44267.